Saturday LCS Game thread

It’s win or stay home for the Cleveland Guardians

Game five of the American League Championship series will be played tonight. The Yankees won the first two games by three runs each, but the Guardians pulled out a come-from-behind victory in game three. Unfortunately, they lost a heartbreaker last night. If they want to advance to the World Series they will have to win all three of the remaining games, including two at Yankees stadium but starting with one tonight at the erstwhile Jacobs field.

The Guardians will have their ace, Tanner Bibee, going for whatever that’s worth in a postseason which has seen more starters fail to complete the fifth inning than not. The Yankees will counter with Carlos Rodón, who isn’t their ace but did pitch six one-run innings against the Guardians while striking out eight and walking none in the first game of the series. Bibee only went 1.1 innings the following night while giving up two earned runs.

It’s looking more and more like a Yankees-Dodgers World Series. That won’t put any conspiracy-theory-minded fans at ease but is likely just the result of the two teams with the highest payrolls surviving the playoff gauntlet to face each other. It would be the twelfth World Series matchup between the two teams if it comes to fruition. The Yankees won eight of the first eleven matchups, but the Dodgers won the most recent one in 1981.