White Sox and Rays take 2-0 ALDS leads with Game 2 wins

Chicago's late rally sets up a potential clincher at home

The White Sox overcame an early 2-0 deficit against the Cleveland Guardians, scoring three runs in the sixth inning on the way to a 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field. Braden Montgomery put Chicago ahead with a two-run double and Chase Meidroth followed with an RBI single. Sean Burke delivered 5 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, striking out six and allowing one run, and Grant Taylor recorded his second save of the postseason. Guardians starter Gavin Williams struck out 11 over five-plus innings, but Cleveland's offense could not produce enough late-inning offense. Chicago, which entered the postseason as the final wild-card team, is now 4-0 in October and can clinch its first ALCS appearance since 2005 with a Game 3 victory Wednesday at Rate Field.

Rays capitalize on Yankees' miscues to move within one win

The Rays defeated the New York Yankees 5-2 at Tropicana Field, exploiting four New York errors, including three in the first inning, before breaking through with a four-run rally in the fifth. Richie Palacios delivered a two-run single during the decisive rally, and Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero each had two hits. Ben Rice supplied all of New York's offense with two solo home runs, becoming the first Yankee to produce multiple two-homer games in the same postseason. The Rays' bullpen finished the job, with Bryan Baker earning his second save of the series. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash used nine outs from left-hander Ian Seymour, the last three from Baker, to send the series to Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 lead. The Yankees now face elimination in Game 3 on Wednesday.

Historical context for a 2-0 series lead

In all best-of-five postseason series, teams with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 83 of 93 times, an 89% conversion rate. Under the current 2-2-1 format, teams that win the first two division games at home advance to the next series 33 of 36 times, while teams that win the first two games on the road have advanced 17 of 19 times. The last team to rally from a 0-2 hole in a best-of-five series came in the 2017 ALDS, when the Yankees advanced after dropping the first two games at Cleveland.

What's next in the ALDS

Game 3 of the White Sox-Guardians series is scheduled for Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max, while Game 3 of the Rays-Yankees series is set for Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on the same networks. A White Sox victory would send Chicago to the ALCS for the first time since 2005, while a Rays victory would put Tampa Bay in position to advance at Yankee Stadium. The other two Division Series matchups — Los Angeles against Atlanta and Milwaukee against San Diego — were scheduled to resume Tuesday.