Framber Valdez brilliant in victory over Rockies

Palacios gave Tampa Bay a commanding four-run advantage by smacking a two-run single to center field off Yankees reliever Brent Headrick with two outs in the fifth inning. The Rays used a contact-oriented approach to neutralize New York’s ace Cam Schlittler, holding him to just a pair of strikeouts, before ultimately chasing him from the contest in the fifth. With the victory, Tampa Bay takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and has a chance to punch their ticket to the ALCS during Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

Rice was one of the few bright spots as New York committed a whopping four errors to fall into an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series. The 27-year-old slugging first baseman took Rays starter Freddy Peralta deep in the early stages of the contest before tattooing an eighth-inning blast off lefty reliever Ian Seymour. It was his second multi-homer performance in four games this postseason. The Yankees will attempt to stave off elimination when the series resumes with Game 3 in New York on Wednesday.

Baker got the call with Tampa Bay holding a three-run advantage entering the final frame. He got Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. to ground out harmlessly before coaxing a game-ending ground ball from Jazz Chisholm Jr. The 31-year-old All-Star stopper has closed out both Rays’ victories to open the best-of-five series.

Peralta was gone from the contest by the time Tampa Bay erupted for four runs in the fifth inning. He did his job early on, limiting New York to just a solo homer by Ben Rice. He struck out three and only issued one walk. The 30-year-old has looked completely rejuvenated over the last couple weeks, posting a microscopic 0.79 ERA across 34 innings during his final six regular-season outings. He’ll be ready to take the ball if the Yankees somehow manage to get the best-of-five series to a winner-take-all contest.

Schlittler didn’t get much help from New York’s defense, which committed a staggering three errors in the opening frame alone and allowed an unearned run to cross the plate. The Yankees committed four errors overall, which led to half of the runs against him being unearned. The Rays also became the first team to truly get to the Yankees’ rising superstar, chasing him from the contest in the fifth inning while limiting him to a season-low two strikeouts. The 25-year-old ace, who is a virtual lock to take home the American League Cy Young Award in a few weeks, would be in line to start a potential winner-take-all Game 5 if New York can somehow extend the series that far.

Montgomery put Chicago ahead for good by slicing an opposite-field double down the right-field line against Cleveland reliever Erik Sabrowski in the sixth inning. It was his lone hit in four at-bats, but it came at an opportune moment in the low-scoring affair at Progressive Field. The 23-year-old former first-round pick is just 3-for-15 to open the postseason. With the victory, the White Sox have a chance to punch their ticket to the ALCS when they host the Guardians for Game 3 at Rate Field on Wednesday night.

Ramírez, who did manage to walk and score a run in this one, has gone 0-for-6 with three strikeouts during the first two contests of the best-of-five series. The Guardians have mustered just three runs on seven hits combined during that span. They’ll attempt to stave off elimination when the series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday evening.

After tossing four shutout frames to close out Game 1 over the weekend, Taylor was summoned to protect a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth inning after Sean Burke gave up a two-out single to Chase DeLauter. He immediately surrendered an RBI triple to Jo Adell, but managed to retire Nathaniel Lowe to keep the lead intact heading to the ninth. He needed just five pitches to set down Angel Martínez, Travis Bazzana and Patrick Bailey in the final frame to give Chicago a commanding 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series. The hard-throwing 24-year-old reliever has yet to allow a run while striking out 11 batters over seven innings of work this postseason. He’s arguably been the difference in the series through two games. Unreal.

Burke took over after Anthony Kay and Sean Newcomb allowed two runs and recorded seven outs to open the contest and didn’t allow a hit until Chase DeLauter singled with two outs in the eighth inning. The 26-year-old righty, who was arguably Chicago’s best starter during the regular season, has allowed four runs with a 14/1 K/BB ratio across 9 1/3 innings of work in a pair of postseason outings.

Williams led the majors with 11 double-digit strikeout performances during the regular season and became the first Cleveland starter to accomplish the feat in a playoff setting since Bartolo Colon back in 2001. His 11 punchouts were one shy of the franchise record set by Charles Nagy back in 1996. He piled up 22 swinging strikes on 98 pitches, allowing just seven baserunners over five impressive frames. He looked like he was going to get in trouble when White Sox rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami smacked an RBI single in the fourth inning. However, he managed to get out of the frame without any further damage. He was charged with an additional run when Cleveland’s bullpen allowed an inherited runner to cross the plate in the sixth. He figures to get the ball for a decisive Game 5 matchup, if the series gets to that point.