Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale were each named the winner of their respective league’s Cy Young Award on Wednesday.

The announcement was hardly a surprise after each ace won their league's pitching triple crown during the 2024 regular season.

This is the first Cy Young for both pitchers.

Skubal, who turned 28 on Wednesday, enjoyed a break-out year in his fourth full MLB season, and was a unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo finished second and Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase finished third in the balloting, which was completed before the play-offs.

Sale received 26 of 30 first-place votes, while Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler finished second, ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes, who was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday.

The 35-year-old Sale has come close to winning the award before, finishing as runner-up to Cleveland's Corey Kluber in 2017, with five other top-five finishes in voting since his first full season in the majors in 2011.

Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956, there have been 16 pitchers to win his league's pitching crown. And now, every one of them has also won that year's Cy Young.

Skubal and Sale each won an MLB-best 18 games, while Skubal led all pitchers with 228 strikeouts – three more than Sale. Sale's ERA of 2.38 was just a tick better than Skubal's 2.39.

Both were dominant down the stretch in leading their teams to the play-offs, with Sale permitting two earned runs or fewer in each of his final 18 regular-season starts, though he was unable to pitch in the season final or the Braves' NL Wild-Card series loss to the San Diego Padres because of a back injury.

Skubal posted a 1.94 ERA in his final nine outings, and then threw 13 shutout innings in his first two play-off starts in helping the Tigers surprisingly reach the American League Division Series. He ended up going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three post-season starts.

Skubal became the fifth Tiger to win the Cy Young trophy – and first since Max Scherzer in 2017 – and Sale is the fifth Brave to earn the award – and first since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1998.

Despite several close calls in Cy Young voting for Sale, he has dealt with injuries for the past five seasons, and was limited to a total of 151 innings over the past three years for the Boston Red Sox.

In his first season with the Braves, however, he threw 177 2/3 innings and was awarded the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award last Thursday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.

But errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.

After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.

Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.

Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record-setting $700 million signing and baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.

Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday’s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.

The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles - their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn’t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam and New York’s bullpen tossed five scoreless innings as the Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

Freddie Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second straight night and again stunning the Yankee Stadium crowd.

Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1.

Twenty-one of the previous 24 teams to take 3-0 Series leads went on to sweeps, all but the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, the 1937 Yankees against the New York Giants and the 1970 Baltimore Orioles against the Cincinnati Reds. All three of those Series ended in five games.

Seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, New York surged ahead 5-2 on Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder in the second and Volpe’s drive against Daniel Hudson in the third. Volpe turned on a first-pitch slider at the knees and drove it into the left-field seats.

Volpe came across with New York's first run when he walked after falling behind 0-2 in the count in the second inning. He also doubled and stole two bases.

Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres added homers for the Yankees, who broke open the game with a five-run eighth. New York had scored just seven runs in the first three games.

Los Angeles closed within 6-4 in a two-run fifth that included Will Smith's homer off starter Luis Gil and an RBI grounder by Freeman. Despite a sprained right ankle, Freeman beat a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play on what originally was ruled an out but was reversed in a video review.

Wells hit a second-deck homer in the sixth against Landon Knack, and Verdugo added another run-scoring grounder in the eighth ahead of Torres' three-run homer off Brent Honeywell.

Tim Hill, winning pitcher Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Tim Mayza strung together five innings of one-hit relief with seven strikeouts, and the Yankees avoided what would have been their first losing Series sweep since 1976.

New York's Aaron Judge drove in his first run of the Series with an RBI single in the eighth and is 2 for 15 in the four games. Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani also is 2 for 15 after going 1 for 4 with a single, his first hit since partially separating his left shoulder in Game 2.

A record-tying feat by Freddie Freeman and a sharp pitching performance from Walker Buehler has the Los Angeles Dodgers one win away from a World Series sweep.

Freeman had a two-run homer in the first inning and Buehler threw five scoreless innings as the National League Champions took a 3-0 series lead on the New York Yankees with Monday's 4-2 victory.

The Dodgers can wrap up their second World Series title in five years and eighth in franchise history in Tuesday's Game 4 at Yankee Stadium. Only one team in MLB history has won a best-of-seven post-season series after losing the first three games - the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.

Shohei Ohtani, in the lineup despite injuring his left shoulder in Los Angeles' Game 2 win on Saturday, went 0 for 3 but did draw a walk off New York starter Clarke Schmidt to begin Monday's contest.

Two batters later, Freeman drilled Schmidt's pitch into the right-field seats to stake the Dodgers to a 2-0 lead. The first baseman has now homered in five consecutive World Series games, tying a record set by the Houston Astros' George Springer during the 2017 and 2019 editions.

Freeman also joined Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) as the only players to homer in each of the first three games of a single World Series. The All-Star slugger also went deep in Games 5 and 6 of the 2021 Fall Classic while then with the Atlanta Braves.

Buehler did not allow a hit until Giancarlo Stanton's double with one out in the fourth inning and yielded just two overall before departing with a 3-0 advantage.

The Dodgers got another run courtesy of a lead-off walk in the third inning. Tommy Edman drew the free pass from Schmidt before moving to second on Ohtani's groundout and crossing the plate on Mookie Betts' bloop single to right field.

Schmidt lasted just 2 2/3 innings and issued four walks while permitting three runs.

Los Angeles extended the margin to 4-0 in the sixth. Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch from New York reliever Jake Cousins and stole second before being brought home by Enrique Hernandez's single.

The Yankees did not get on the board until former Dodger Alex Verdugo's two-run homer off Michael Kopech in the ninth inning.

New York missed out on a chance to score following Stanton's double in the fourth, however, as the slugger was later thrown out at the plate by Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez on single off the bat of Anthony Volpe.

The Dodgers are expected to throw a bullpen game in Game 4, while the Yankees will send out 15-game winner Luis GIl in an attempt to extend the series.

Shohei Ohtani will be back in the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup for Game 3 of the World Series against the New York Yankees on Monday.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Karl Ravech of ESPN on Sunday that Ohtani is "in a great spot and will be playing in game 2 tomorrow."

Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder on a feet-first slide when he was caught stealing second base to end the seventh inning in Saturday's 4-2 win.

He then laid on the infield dirt near second base for a couple minutes before walking off the field holding his left arm.

After the game, Roberts said that Ohtani "had a little left shoulder subluxation."

With Saturday's victory, the Dodgers have grabbed a 2-0 lead in the World Series despite some struggles at the plate from Ohtani.

The likely National League MVP was 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 2, and is 1 for 8 in the first two games of the Fall Classic.

In 13 play-off games, Ohtani is batting .260 with three home runs and 10 RBIs with 19 strikeouts.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6 1/3 innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers hit three early homers off Carlos Rodón to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Saturday night for a 2-0 World Series lead in a game overshadowed by an injury to Shohei Ohtani.

Freddie Freeman, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández went deep for the Dodgers, who watched Ohtani walk off the field with a left shoulder injury at the end of the seventh inning.

After the Yankees closed to 4-2 on Giancarlo Stanton's RBI single in the ninth against Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia relieved with the bases loaded and retired pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on a first-pitch flyout for the save.

Yamamoto allowed Juan Soto's third-inning homer, then retired his last 11 batters and 15 of his final 16.

Soto also singled in the ninth and scored on Stanton's one-out hit off the third-base bag. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Treinen then struck out Anthony Volpe before Vesia relieved.

Ohtani hurt his left shoulder on a feetfirst slide when he was caught stealing second base to end the seventh.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Forty-five of 56 teams holding 2-0 World Series leads have gone on to win the title.

New York star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and is hitting .150 with six RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 40 postseason at-bats.

Yamamoto struck out four and walked two with a five-pitch array that included curveballs, splitters, sliders and cutters. He improved to 2-0 in four postseason starts.

A night after Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in Series history to transform a 3-2 deficit with two outs in the 10th inning into a 6-3 win, Edman put the Dodgers ahead with a solo shot in the second.

After Soto tied the score, Mookie Betts singled with two outs in the bottom half and Hernández, in a 3-for-27 slide, homered into the right-center pavilion for a 3-1 lead.

Freddie Freeman hit the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history with two outs in the 10th inning, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in a dramatic opener Friday night.

Hobbled by a badly sprained ankle, Freeman homered on the first pitch he saw - an inside fastball from Nestor Cortes - and then dropped his bat before beginning a trot while greeted with a roar from the sellout crowd of 52,394.

It was reminiscent of Kirk Gibson's game-ending homer that lifted Los Angeles over the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium - one of the most famous swings in baseball lore.

Gibson, sidelined by leg injuries, came off the bench and connected off Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley.

Freeman, who missed three games during the National League playoffs because of an injury to his right ankle, didn't have an extra-base hit this postseason until legging out a triple earlier on Friday.

In this much-hyped, star-studded World Series between two of baseball's most storied and successful franchises, Game 1 certainly delivered.

In the top of the 10th, Anthony Volpe grounded into a fielder's choice to shortstop, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third after he stole two bases, to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

It was the third straight World Series opener to go extra innings.

The speedy Chisholm singled off Blake Treinen and then stole second and third for a Yankees team not known for speed.

Tommy Edman drove in four runs with a homer and a double as the Los Angeles Dodgers captured their 25th National League pennant with Sunday's 10-5 victory over the New York Mets in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.

Will Smith added a two-run homer to help set up a World Series clash between two of baseball's most storied franchises in the Dodgers and the American League champion New York Yankees. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will take place Friday in Los Angeles. 

The Dodgers and Yankees will be meeting for the 12th time in a World Series, the most frequent matchup of any two teams in the event's history, though they last opposed one another in 1981.

This World Series will also pit this season's likely MVP winners against one another in Los Angeles' Shohei Ohtani and the Yankees' Aaron Judge. It will be the first World Series appearance for both star sluggers.

Ohtani finished 2 for 4 with a run-scoring single and two runs scored in Sunday's clincher, in which Dodgers manager Dave Roberts used seven pitchers in a bullpen game. 

Ben Casparius received the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Michael Kopech, who walked two batters in the first inning and gave up the game's first run when Pete Alonso drove in Francisco Lindor with an infield single.

The Dodgers countered with two runs in their half of the first, with both Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez reaching on singles off Mets starter Sean Manaea before Edman knocked in each with a double.

Los Angeles knocked Manaea out during a third inning in which they scored four times to increase their lead to 6-1.

Edman followed Hernandez's single with a two-run homer to start the big inning. Manaea then walked Max Muncy, who later crossed the plate on Smith's homer off Phil Maton to further extend the margin.

Manaea, who beat Los Angeles in Dodger Stadium in Game 2, was tagged for five runs on six hits in two-plus innings of work.

The Mets did close the gap in the fourth on Mark Vientos' two-run homer that cut the lead to 6-3, but Ohtani plated Smith with a single in the sixth to put Los Angeles ahead by four runs.

After the Mets scored once in the seventh to get back within three, the Dodgers put the game away with a three-run eighth.

Mookie Betts doubled in the first of those runs before Hernandez brought in Ohtani with a sacrifice fly for a 9-4 advantage. Edman later reached on a fielder's choice before coming home on Enrique Hernandez's single.

Juan Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 to advance to the first World Series in 15 years on Saturday night.

Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade with San Diego in December and is an impending free agent, moved the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.

The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

In the 10th, Austin Wells walked with one out and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.

Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer – his fourth of the series - for the Yankees, who took care of the Guardians in five games, but it wasn’t easy.

New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.

The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.

Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.

Pete Alonso's three-run homer in the first inning set the tone as the New York Mets avoided elimination in the National League Championship Series with Friday's 12-6 Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York battered Dodgers' starter Jack Flaherty for eight runs through the first three innings to send the best-of-seven series back to Los Angeles for Sunday's Game 6. Starling Marte finished 4 for 5 and knocked in three runs to help keep the Mets alive, while Francisco Alvarez had a run-scoring single among his three hits.

Francisco Lindor and Jesse Winker each added two hits and had run-scoring triples for New York, which overcame a two-homer performance by Andy Pages that accounted for four of the Dodgers' runs.

Mookie Betts went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for the Dodgers, but Flaherty was unable to duplicate a stellar Game 1 effort in which he allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings.

Los Angeles will now attempt to claim its second NL pennant in five years back home, though they'll have to face New York's Sean Manaea in Game 6. The left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts this post-season and earned the win in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.

The Mets got to Flaherty early in this one, as Lindor started the bottom of the first inning with a single and Brandon Nimmo followed with a walk. Two batters later, Alonso drove a pitch over the center field wall for a 3-0 lead.

Los Angeles got a run back in the second inning, but New York broke the game open with five runs off Flaherty in the third.

Alonso and Winker began the Mets' half of the inning with walks before Marte drove both runners home with a double. Marte later scored on Alvarez's two-out single that preceded Lindor's triple that extended the margin to 7-1.

Nimmo then capped the big inning by plating Lindor with a single. 

Pages delivered his first homer of the game in the top of the fourth, but Winker tripled in Alonso in the bottom of the inning and scored on Jeff McNeil's sacrifice fly for a 10-2 New York lead.

The Dodgers got closer when Pages connected for a three-run homer off Reed Garrett in the fifth inning, and Betts' solo blast in the sixth trimmed the margin to 10-6.

New York would tack on another run in the bottom of the sixth, however, and Marte singled in Alonso in the eighth for more insurance.

Yankees score twice in ninth for 3-1 lead over Guardians in ALCS

New York's other team is now one win away from its first World Series appearance since 2009 after the Yankees scored twice in the ninth inning to pull out an 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the ALCS.

The Yankees bounced back from Thursday's 7-5, 10-inning loss in Game 3 and from blowing a four-run lead in Game 4, as Cleveland scored three times in the seventh inning and once in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6.

Alex Verdugo and Gleyber Torres each knocked in runs off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the top of the ninth, however, before Tommy Kahnle held the Guardians scoreless in the bottom of the inning to give New York a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Yankees can close it out in Saturday's Game 5 in Cleveland behind Carlos Rodon, who beat the Guardians in Game 1 with six innings of one-run ball.

New York had built a 6-2 lead on three home runs - a two-run shot from Juan Soto in the first inning, a solo blast from Austin Wells in the second and Giancarlo Stanton's three-run shot in the sixth.

Josh Naylor had two hits and three runs batted in for the AL Central champion Guardians, while Jose Ramirez went 2 for 3 and knocked in two runs as both players keyed Cleveland's late rally. 

The Guardians put two on to start the bottom of the seventh before Ramirez delivered a run-scoring double off reliever Clay Holmes to cut New York's lead to 6-3. Naylor followed with a double that brought in Steven Kwan and Ramirez and got Cleveland within one.

Naylor then led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Mark Leiter Jr. and later scored on David Fry's infield hit that tied the game at 6-6.

The Yankees began the ninth with singles by Anthony RIzzo and Anthony Volpe off Clase, however. After Volpe stole second to put two in scoring position, Verdugo reached on a dribbler that Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio mishandled for an error as the go-ahead run crossed the plate.

Torres followed with a single that scored Volpe for an 8-6 advantage.

The Guardians got their first run in the bottom of the first to counter Soto's two-run shot in the top of the inning. After Wells' homer in the second put New York up 3-1, Kwan singled in the third and later scored on a Naylor single to pull Cleveland closer. 

Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry saved the Cleveland Guardians' season with a pair of dramatic home runs.

After Noel hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score, Fry's two-run homer in the 10th propelled the Guardians to a 7-5 win over the New York Yankees on Thursday in an instant classic to pull Cleveland within 2-1 in the AL Championship Series.

The Yankees were trailing 3-1 with two outs in the eighth inning until Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back home runs off All-Star closer Emanuel Clase, with Judge tying the score with a two-run blast and Stanton following with a solo shot.

New York tacked on another run in the top of the ninth to take a 5-3 lead and was one out away from taking a 3-0 series lead, but Lane Thomas then doubled off Luke Weaver to set up Noel's game-tying bomb to send the Cleveland crowd into a frenzy.

After the Yankees failed to score in the top of the 10th, Bo Naylor singled to lead off the bottom of the inning and came around to score on Fry's game-ending home run in front of a raucous crowd.

Rookie Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the third inning for the Guardians, who can even the series in Game 4 on Friday.

Dodgers pound Mets again to grab 3-1 lead in NLCS

Shohei Ohtani started off Game 4 with a lead-off home run to set the tone in the Los Angeles Dodgers' latest blowout win over the New York Mets - a 10-2 trouncing for a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series.

Ohtani scored four runs, while No. 2 hitter Mookie Betts went 4 for 6 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored to help the Dodgers move within one win of reaching the World Series.

Los Angeles, which scored nine runs in winning the NLCS opener and plated eight runs in Game 3, won without Freddie Freeman, as the All-Star first baseman rested a swollen right ankle.

Tommy Edman stepped up with three RBIs, and Max Muncy set a single-season play-off record by reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances. He had two homers, two singles and eight walks during his run, which ended in the eighth inning.

The Mets had 10 hits, but were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.

New York needs to win Game 5 on Friday at Citi Field to send the series back to Los Angeles, while the Dodgers can secure an NL record 25th pennant with one more victory.

Shohei Ohtani hit a mammoth three-run homer, Kike Hernandez added another postseason home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers notched their second shutout of the NL Championship Series, 8-0 over the New York Mets for a 2-1 lead on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles rebounded from a loss at home to grab the advantage in the best-of-seven series by pitching its fourth shutout in the past five playoff games.

Ohtani connected in the eighth, a 410-foot drive that soared into the second deck in right field and barely stayed fair above the foul pole for a 7-0 lead.

Max Muncy went deep in the ninth for his 13th career postseason homer, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the franchise record. Muncy also connected in Game 2.

A fired-up Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor to leave the bases loaded, and the Dodgers got five stingy innings from their hard-throwing bullpen. Buehler combined with four relievers on a four-hitter and Dodgers pitchers finished with 13 strikeouts.

Game 4 is Thursday night in Queens, with $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto scheduled to start for Los Angeles against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana.

Luis Severino fell behind 2-0 in the second, partly due to some shoddy fielding. He did not permit an earned run but threw 95 pitches and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, taking the loss.

Reed Garrett served up Hernandez’s homer and Tylor Megill gave up four runs in three innings, including homers by Ohtani and Muncy.

Aaron Judge hit his first homer this postseason and drove in three runs as the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 for a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series on Tuesday night.

Judge, who entered with just one RBI in the playoffs, hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run second that put the Yankees ahead 3-0. With New York leading 4-2 lead in the seventh, the likely AL MVP drove a fastball at the letters from Hunter Gaddis 414 feet to center for his 14th career postseason home run.

Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee got just four outs in the shortest start of his professional career and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was chased after four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Winner Clay Holmes, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings. José Ramírez hit a ninth-inning home run off Luke Weaver, just the second earned run New York’s bullpen has allowed over 23 1/3 innings in six postseason games.

After a day off, Game 3 is Thursday in Cleveland. The Yankees lead the ALCS 2-0 for the first time since 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels.

New York’s Gleyber Torres reached base leading off for the fifth time in the playoffs and had three hits. Anthony Rizzo had two hits and is 3 for 7 in two games since returning from a pair of fractured fingers that caused him to miss the Division Series.

Rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio and right fielder Will Brennan committed run-scoring errors for the Guardians.

Rocchio dropped Judge’s first-inning popup, allowing Torres to score. After Cleveland closed to 3-2, Brennan bobbled the ball when he tried for a barehand pickup of Rizzo’s sixth-inning double that caromed off the low wall down the right-field line. Anthony Volpe, who had been on first, sprinted home.

Cleveland went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

Francisco Lindor ended the Los Angeles Dodgers' streak of 33 consecutive scoreless innings with a lead-off home run, and Mark Vientos had a grand slam later on as the New York Mets evened the National League Championship Series with Monday's 7-3 Game 2 victory.

New York, the sixth and lowest seed in the NL play-offs, also received five-plus effective innings from Sean Manaea to bounce back from a 9-0 loss to the top-seeded Dodgers in Sunday's series opener.

Los Angeles entered Game 2 off three straight shutout victories to tie the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for the longest run of consecutive scoreless innings in a post-season in MLB history.

Lindor quickly prevented the streak from going any further, however, as he blasted a pitch from opener Ryan Brasier into the right field seats to begin the contest. The Mets then broke the game open with five runs off Landon Knack in the second inning.

Starling Marte started the second with a single for his first of three hits on the day, and Knack walked Jesse Winker before surrendering Tyrone Taylor's one-out double that plated Marte for a 2-0 lead.

After Lindor was intentionally walked to load the bases with two out, Vientos extended the margin to 6-0 with his third homer of this post-season.

Manaea kept the Dodgers off the board until Max Muncy's solo homer in the fifth, though the left-hander departed after issuing back-to-back walks to Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez to start the bottom of the sixth.

After an error by Mets second baseman Jose Iglesias loaded the bases, Tommy Edman drove in Betts and Hernandez with a single off Phil Maton to bring Los Angeles within 6-3.

The Dodgers threatened again in the eighth by putting two on with two out, but New York closer Edwin Diaz got Enrique Hernandez to fly out and protect the Mets' three-run cushion.

After Marte singled in Pete Alonso in the top of the ninth for the Mets' final run, Diaz worked out of another jam in the bottom of the inning by striking out Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in succession with two runners on.

The Mets will now host the next three games of this best-of-seven series, with Game 3 to take place Wednesday.

Rodon pitches Yankees to 1-0 lead over Guardians in ALCS

New York's other team also came out a winner on Monday, as the Yankees opened the American League Championship Series with a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians behind six sharp innings from Carlos Rodon.

Rodon struck out nine without a walk and held Cleveland to one run on three hits to help give the Yankees the early upper hand in this clash between the AL's two best teams of the regular season. The left-hander did not permit a run until Brayan Rocchio led off the top of the sixth with a solo homer.

Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton backed Rodon's gem with solo homers, and the Yankees also capitalised on seven walks and five wild pitches thrown by Cleveland hurlers.

Top-seeded New York will attempt to take a 2-0 lead behind ace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, with the Guardians slated to throw 12-game winner Tanner Bibee.

Soto started the scoring with a lead-off homer off Alex Cobb that ignited a three-run third inning for the Yankees. Cobb would issue three walks before departing with two out in favour of Joey Cantillo, who uncorked a pair of wild pitches that enabled Aaron Judge and Stanton to score.

Cantillo threw two more wild pitches after walking Gleyber Torres in the fourth, which set up Judge's sacrifice fly that brought in Torres for a 4-0 lead.

Rocchio's homer in the sixth got Cleveland on the board, but the Yankees countered in the seventh on Stanton's 13th career post-season homer.

The Guardians made a bid to get back in it in the eighth with three singles off reliever Tim Hill, including Steven Kwan's hit that knocked in Andres Gimenez and trimmed the deficit to 5-2.

New York then summoned closer Luke Weaver, who struck out pinch-hitter Will Brennan and retired All-Star Jose Ramirez on an inning-ending groundout to strand two runners.

Weaver recorded three more strikeouts in the ninth to end the game and earn his fourth save of the post-season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers tied an MLB post-season record for consecutive scoreless innings by opening the National League Championship Series with Sunday's 9-0 rout of the New York Mets.

Jack Flaherty allowed just two hits through the first seven innings before relievers Daniel Hudson and Ben Casparius finished off the three-hit shutout to extend Los Angeles' streak of scoreless innings to 33, matching the longest run in a post-season set by the Baltimore Orioles during the 1966 World Series.

The top-seeded Dodgers have now won their last three games by shutout, having blanked the San Diego Padres in Games 4 and 5 of the NL Division Series to advance after losing two of the first three matchups.

Los Angeles also got plenty of offence to take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each had two hits and a run batted in, while Mookie Betts knocked in three runs with a double in the eighth inning.

Ohtani did have a streak of 36 straight successful stolen base attempts come to an end when he was thrown out in the second inning, the NL MVP favourite's first time caught stealing since July 22.

The Dodgers had a 3-0 lead at that point after taking advantage of control issues from Mets starter Kodai Senga, who was making just his third MLB appearance in 2024 after missing extensive time with shoulder and calf injuries.

Senga walked Betts, Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez in succession as the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the first. Two batters later, Max Muncy singled to center to drive in Betts and Freeman for a quick 2-0 advantage.

Los Angeles extended the margin in the second after Gavin Lux drew another walk off Senga to begin the bottom of the inning. Tommy Edman followed with a sacrifice bunt in front of Ohtani's single to center that plated Lux for a 3-0 lead.

Senga lasted just 1 1/3 innings while surrendering three runs, two hits and four walks.

The Dodgers piled on further with three runs in the fourth. Edman drove in Enrique Hernandez with a single and later scored when Mets right fielder Starling Marte misplayed Ohtani's base hit to allow both runners to take an extra base. Freeman sent Ohtani home with a single two batters later to put New York at a 6-0 deficit. 

Flaherty, meanwhile, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and retired the final eight batters he faced in a dominant performance. The mid-season trade acquisition finished his night with two walks and six strikeouts.

Betts capped the scoring in the eighth with a double that cleared the bases after the Dodgers had loaded them on a Hernandez single, an error and a walk to Ohtani.

The sixth-seeded Mets, who previously knocked out two division winners in the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies during this post-season, will attempt to rebound in Monday's Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. Sean Manaea will start for New York against Los Angeles' Walker Buehler.