The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers are absolutely lighting it up right now, steamrolling into their respective ALCS and NLCS matchups packing the best records in each league. But here’s the real shocker: these dominant teams are two of three remaining clubs with payrolls that are a fraction of the monster Los Angeles Dodgers. Combined, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and the Cleveland Guardians are running on a $360.5 million budget, a full $72.5 million *less* than the Dodgers’ jaw-dropping $433 million. It’s wild to see the biggest spenders potentially getting shown up by the lean machines, isn’t it?
Rays Dominate Guardians in ALCS Showdown
Over in the American League, the Rays finished with a phenomenal 98-64 record, the best in the AL, and they’re going head-to-head with the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS. Dig into the regular season stats, and Tampa Bay held the edge in a whopping 33 of 45 statistical matchups, with just one tie where both clubs got hit by 58 pitches. When these two clashed earlier in the season, the Rays took the season series, 5-1, outscoring Cleveland 20-8. Three of those Rays wins were shutouts, and Guardians hitters just couldn’t solve Tampa Bay pitching, batting a paltry .170 against them, while the Rays hit a respectable .242.
Cleveland’s lone victory against the Rays was a 3-1 win at home on April 29. Gavin Williams was lights out, allowing only one earned run over 7 1/3 innings, striking out nine without a walk. Chase DeLauter sealed it with a two-run single among Cleveland’s nine hits. The only real blowout of the series was Tampa Bay’s 11-3 win at home on July 24, highlighted by a two-run homer from Ryan Vilade off Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo. And let’s not forget Junior Caminero, who crushed 40 homers this season for the Rays, a guy Cleveland traded away back in 2021 when he was just an 18-year-old minor leaguer. The Guardians, by the way, fought their way here after winning the AL Central with an 85-77 record, one game better than the Chicago White Sox. They then clawed back from a 0-2 deficit in the AL Division Series against the White Sox, winning three straight thanks to Jose Ramirez’s clutch hitting. That White Sox team had just swept the Houston Astros 2-0 in the Wild Card, too.
Brewers Battle Reigning Champs in NLCS
Across the leagues, the Milwaukee Brewers were absolutely dominant, securing the best record in the National League at 103-59. They’re locked into an NLCS battle against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are the defending two-time World Series champions. While the Brewers still hold a statistical advantage over the Dodgers, it’s a tighter margin, with Milwaukee leading in 27 of 45 categories. The Dodgers had a fantastic 100-62 record, winning the AL West (yes, the source says AL West!) by nine games over the San Diego Padres. They then powered through the Atlanta Braves in a four-game NL Division Series. The Braves, for their part, had just edged out the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game wild-card series. On the other side of the bracket, the San Diego Padres swept the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in their Wild Card matchup before ultimately falling to Milwaukee in a four-game NLDS.
Numbers are just numbers until the first pitch, and as Mark Twain famously quipped about statistics being “lies, damned lies, and statistics,” these matchups are far from decided. The Guardians and Dodgers are absolutely out to prove him right in what promises to be a couple of insane series.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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