Rays Look To Join Rare Group With ALDS Sweep of Yankees
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On Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series with a 4-3 victory in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.
The Rays were clicking on all cylinders during all three games, as they prevented the Yankees from taking a lead throughout the series. They did not let up at any point, proving they were the better team over their division rival.
Tampa Bay is in exclusive company with their sweep in the series to move on to the Championship Series.
As shared by Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, with this win, the Rays are just the third team to sweep the Division Series since the playoff format was altered to its current format during the 2022 season. The previous two teams, the 2022 Houston Astros and the 2023 Texas Rangers, went on to win the World Series.
History is on Rays side to make World Series run
This has only happened twice in the previous four seasons, with both of those teams also winning the Championship Series, ultimately reaching the World Series, and winning it all.
The Astros swept the Seattle Mariners in 2022, then went on to sweep the Yankees in four games in the ALCS before defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. The Rangers swept the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS in 2023, then beat Houston in seven games in the ALCS before defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.
The question is, after the Rays just swept the Yankees in the ALDS, can history repeat itself?
Tampa Bay will face either the Chicago White Sox or the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS, with the two teams set to meet for Game 4 of the other Division Series matchup on Thursday night in Chicago. The Guardians finished the season atop the AL Central with a record of 85-77, with the White Sox finishing one game back at 84-78 and winning the AL Wild Card Series against the Astros.
Regardless of who they face, the 98-win Rays will be the favorites to win the Championship Series and appear in the World Series.
The Tampa Bay Rays are the third team to sweep the LDS since the start of the new playoff format in 2022.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 8, 2026
The previous two teams went onto win the World Series:
The 2022 Houston Astros and the 2023 Texas Rangers.
It will be the third time in history that Tampa Bay has reached the Championship Series and the first time since 2020. Both other times in the past, the Rays made it to the World Series but were unable to finish the job. Tampa Bay beat the Boston Red Sox in the 2008 ALCS and Houston in 2020.
Rays’ manager Kevin Cash told the team to keep the pressure on, as his message to the team remains unchanged after the Division Series-clinching win.
“The exact same message,” Cash said. “Let’s continue what we’re doing. Don’t know who we’re playing yet, but we know we’re going to face a very talented team, whoever it is.”
Whether Tampa Bay can finish the job and join the 2022 Astros and 2023 Rangers remains to be seen. It’s safe to say with the way the Rays are playing now, it’s entirely possible to have history repeat itself.
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