The Championship Series is complete, and only two teams remain now. But before we jump into the final duel of the MLB season, let’s break down what went on in the MLB’s League Championship Series. 

ALCS:

New York Yankees Vs. Cleveland Guardians (N.Y. Series 4-1 W)

The first team to punch their ticket to the World Series was the New York Yankees. 

Both Game 1 and 2 saw the Yankees take an early lead and they never really looked back. Juan Soto started the series with a solo shot to take an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second and help propel the Yankees to a win.

However, Game 2 was a close battle until the Yankees poured four runs in the bottom of the seventh, with two of those runs coming from an Aaron Judge home run, who’s been struggling mightily this postseason.

Then it got to Game 3, which might become an all-time postseason classic. Unlike the previous two, the Guardians jumped out first, as DH Kyle Manzardo sent a ball into the right field stands to make it 2-1. Later that inning, the Guardians would collect one more run thanks to an Andres Gimenez single that scored Lane Thomas.

Fast forward to the top of the eighth, when Emmanuel Clase, who’s one of the best closers in the league, comes in. However, Clase has been struggling heavily this postseason, and after Soto walked, Judge came up to the plate. 

With a 2-1 count, Clase delivered and Judge hit a line drive to right field, and it was gone. With that, the Yankees took the lead.

Both teams then continued to trade runs, and before the game was almost over, it was 5-3 Yankees. 

But it wasn’t until a last resort, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jhonkensy Noel, or “Big Christmas” blasted a ball into the stands to tie the game at five. 

With the game now tied, the Guardians headed into extras. And with a runner on base, David Fry came up and hit the game-winning home run for the Guardians to take Game 3.

Game 4 and Five 5 saw the same thing, with each team trading runs. With the Guardians down a run in a 6-5 ball game and a runner on third, David Fry came up once again, and with a little error made by relief pitcher Mark Leiter Jr., Cleveland tied it. 

Heading into the top of the ninth, Emmanuel Clase got a chance to correct his mistakes the previous game. 

But Clase gave up a single to Anthony Rizzo and a double to Anthony Volpe to start the ninth. Alex Verdugo proceeded to get a hit off the handle to score one after Brayan Rocchio mishandled the ball. Gleyber Torres followed that up with a line drive base hit to score one more. 

In Game 5, the Yankees had the Guardians at their neck and they just needed one more to advance. But it certainly wasn’t easy for the Yankees. 

The game was tied 2-2, and the game went into extras. Austin Wells took a walk and after Rocchio’s error that let Verdugo get on base, Soto blasted a ball to deep center to send the Yankees to the World Series. 

NLCS:

Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. New York Mets (L.A. Series 4-2 W)

Punching blow after punching blow. That’s what this series came down to, as each game finished with the winning team winning by five or more runs. 

Games 1 and 2 saw just that as the Dodgers cruised to an early 1-0 series lead after crushing the Mets 9-0 at Dodger Stadium. 

But in the next game, the Mets answered back to tie the series. 

The Mets jumped out early with a leadoff bomb from Francisco Lindor in the first. The very next inning though is where the Mets never looked back, as the team went on to score five in the second from a Mark Vientos grand slam. 

Now coming back home, the Mets had all the momentum. Despite this, Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who up until this point, was batting .087 in the postseason, was able to tack on the first run in the first. Following that, Tommy Edman was able to put one more on the board from a sac fly that scored Teoscar Hernandez. 

The Mets in the very next inning loaded the bases with just one out. Francisco Alvarez was sent down on strikes, leaving it up to Lindor to deliver another big moment. With the count full at three balls and two strikes, Walker Buehler sent Lindor down on a swinging strike to end the second. 

The Dodgers just continued to punch the rest of the night, as Kike Hernandez hit a two-run shot, Shohei Ohtani crushed a ball into the second deck for three more runs and the Dodgers cruised to yet another win to put them ahead in the series. 

The next three games would have at least one team score 10+ runs. 

Game 4 would have both teams trade in a run in the first, with Ohtani and Vientos hitting solo shots. But throughout the rest of the game, the Los Angeles offense continued to produce almost every other inning, consistently scoring two or more. 

The insane thing is, that both teams had around the same amount of hits, as the Dodgers had 12, and the Mets totaled 10. But one thing the Mets were dealing with a majority of the series was leaving runners on base. 

In this game specifically, the Mets were able to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Evan Phillips. With just one out only, Los Angeles was able to escape with the Mets doing no damage at all. 

Heading into Game 5, the Mets were able to crush the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty, scoring 10 runs in the first four innings. 

The Dodgers were almost able to keep up with the Mets’ rapid scoring, as rookie 23-year-old Andy Pages was able to put the game within five runs, but the Mets just continued to produce on offense. 

Now with the series being a 3-2 lead, the Mets were able to make it a series again. 

Just like all the other games in this series, the scoring started early as an error by the Dodgers let Lindor score the first run of the game.

Dodgers quickly answered back by scoring two from a Tommy Edman double to take a 2-1 lead. 

Edman, who has had a spectacular performance this postseason then followed up with a two-run home run in his next at-bat, putting the Dodgers up 4-1 along with getting Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea out of the game. 

From there on out, the Dodgers offense poured in more runs. 

Once again though, the Mets were in another similar situation as the previous games, as they loaded the bases, down three. Up to the plate was Jesse Winker with a chance to change the series. But for what felt like the millionth time, the Mets left the runners stranded as Winker hit a pop-fly to left field to conclude the inning. 

Blake Trienen was able to get the final nine outs to shut down the Mets’ hopes of reaching the World Series. 

And with that there now just stands two of the biggest teams in the entire league to duel it out for the World Series. 

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