LCS takeaways: Yankees grab Game 1, Mets pull even
Two games, two New York wins on Day 2 of the League Championship Series.
In the opener, the New York Mets struck early and the Los Angeles Dodgers were never able to overcome the deficit as the Mets evened up the National League Championship Series 1-1 with a 7-3 win.
Later, the New York Yankees topped the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in their first American League Championship Series game against a team other than the Houston Astros since 2012.
Here is how the day went down, from live updates and analysis to takeaways and what’s next for each team.
Jump to: Takeaways | Live updates and analysis
Takeaways
Series tied 1-1
The New York Mets’ season-long narrative has centered on the team’s uncanny resiliency. Monday’s bounce-back win in Game 2 did nothing to refute that take on New York’s campaign. It’s been late-game thunderbolts that have propelled the Mets, but today the rumbling started right from the outset on Francisco Lindor’s leadoff homer. It was only one run, but it was huge after the Los Angeles Dodgers stifled the Mets’ lineup in Game 1 to extend a historic streak of scoreless innings. The impregnable Dodgers staff narrative died with that swing, and the Mets’ Weeble wobble ways continued. As in, you can push ’em over, but they pop right back up.
The Lindor blast set the tone while Mark Vientos’ grand slam in the second inning furthered his own narrative as New York’s emergent October hero. That gave Sean Manaea all the buffer he needed, and while the Dodgers threatened to close the gap a couple of times, the Mets evened the series in a relatively low-drama contest. The lesson for the Dodgers: This Mets team is not going to go quietly, if it goes down at all.
What to watch in Game 3: With an even series after two games and the next three games at Citi Field, the probabilities have swung ever so slightly to the Mets’ side. That’s just the math of it, but in reality, nothing in this series has been decided. New York now has home advantage, but that’s more or less meaningless — and the more important factor is which team benefits more from the day off as the series shifts to New York. Whose staff needed the rest more? Whose injured hitters (Freddie Freeman, Gavin Lux, Brandon Nimmo) will be most restored by Game 3? Basically, buckle up for Wednesday because this thing is just getting started. — Bradford Doolittle
New York leads series 1-0
This ALCS is a showdown between two distinct pitching strategies. The Yankees utilize an old-school approach: starting pitchers working deep into games. The Guardians, thanks to injuries to key starters early in the season, have reached this point by placing a heavy workload on their bullpen, arguably the best in the majors in 2024. In Game 1, the Yankees’ approach was superior. Carlos Rodon was brilliant over six innings, holding Cleveland to one run on three hits. On the other side, Alex Cobb, making just his fifth start in 2024, recorded just eight outs. Wildness cost the Guardians. New York scored four runs between the third and fourth innings with just one hit — a solo home run from Juan Soto — thanks to six walks and four wild pitches. That was the difference in moving the Yankees within three wins of their first World Series appearance in 15 years.
What to watch in Game 2: Game 2 on Tuesday night will be a battle between the clubs’ aces. Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees fresh off his dominant, seven-inning outing in Game 4 of the ALDS. For Cleveland, it will be Tanner Bibee, who logged 8⅔ innings in two ALDS starts against the Tigers. The Guardians will look for a deeper outing from the right-hander to avoid taxing their bullpen so early in the series. The Yankees will love more of the same from Cole to take a 2-0 series lead with them to Cleveland. — Jorge Castillo
