2 possible matchups. 1 historic World Series

Plus: Milwaukee clears its schedule

Friday, October 16 View Online Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know around baseball, brought to you by David Adler. Today we want to know which World Series matchup you want to see.   The Brewers are in. The Dodgers are out. And that means we're getting a historic World Series matchup no matter what.   Whatever matchup we end up with -- Rays-Brewers or Guardians-Brewers -- someone is going to shatter a loooooooong championship drought. Very possibly a "forever" drought.    If it's Rays vs. Brewers, that would mean we're guaranteed to see a first-time World Series champion. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay are two of the three teams that entered this year's playoffs with a chance to win the first ring in franchise history (the Padres were the other).    The Brewers' first and only World Series appearance came back in 1982 -- you heard plenty about that when they finished off their sweep of the Dodgers to win the National League pennant last night. But Milwaukee fell in seven games to the Cardinals that year. The Rays have made two Fall Classics and lost both, to the Phillies in 2008 and the Dodgers in 2020.   And if it's Guardians vs. Brewers, we'll get either a first-time winner (the Brewers) or the end of baseball's longest active championship drought (the Guardians).    Cleveland last won the World Series all the way back in 1948. That's 77 seasons without a title -- two full decades more than the next-closest franchise, which is ... the very same Brewers who the Guardians would have to beat.    (To be fair, even if the Dodgers had made it, that'd make for its own historic kind of matchup … a three-peat is pretty darn rare, after all. But that's over.)   So which World Series matchup are we gonna see? The Guardians have a leg up just based on their 2-1 lead over the Rays in the ALCS, with two more games coming at home. Then again, the Rays are the top team in the American League, with a deep, well-balanced roster that's built for a pennant run. ALCS Game 4: Tonight at 8 p.m. ET (TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max) Actually, forget about predicting the World Series matchup. They'd both be fun. So which one would you RATHER see? Here's a poll for the weekend. TODAY'S POLL Which World Series matchup do YOU want to see? RAYS VS. BREWERS GUARDIANS VS. BREWERS We'll have the results on Monday. EVERYTHING TO KNOW FOR ALCS GAME 4 The NLCS is over, but the ALCS is back at it tonight. Can the Rays get back into the series, or will the Guardians take a commanding lead?   Here's what you need to know for Game 4 and the key storylines to watch.   Rays at Guardians (Guardians lead series 2-1)  8 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max Game 4 FAQ The series so far:    After the teams split the first two games in Tampa Bay, the Guardians took the lead in the series in the first game in Cleveland behind Petey Halpin's dramatic home run off Griffin Jax. That leaves the 98-win Rays playing catchup.   Today's pitching matchup: Nick Martinez (Rays) vs. Shawn Armstrong (Guardians)   Martinez has had the Guardians' number this season -- he beat them in both of his starts without allowing a single run, including seven scoreless innings in Cleveland back in April. The Guardians are going with a bullpen game with Armstrong as the opener. He's been excellent this postseason, with four scoreless appearances.   Key storylines:    1) Can the Rays' big bats get it going?    The Rays' big three bats -- Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda -- are a combined 5-for-34 at the top of the order in this series. That's not going to get it done.   2) Will the Guardians keep finding unlikely heroes?    From Petey Halpin to Patrick Bailey, a lot of the Guardians' biggest knocks this postseason have come from unexpected bats (and yes, there's also been a lot of José Ramírez mixed in, too). Who's next up? WHERE DO THE DODGERS GO FROM HERE? The Dodgers went into the postseason as a 100-win, star-studded juggernaut that was the favorite to win a third straight World Series title. But oh how the mighty have fallen -- the Dodgers' three-peat hopes are over after they were swept out of the NLCS by the same Brewers team they swept in the NLCS last year. So … now what? The Dodgers are still going to be a postseason favorite next season -- they've made the playoffs 14 years in a row, after all -- but now they have questions. Questions like:   • Will they pursue Tarik Skubal? The Dodgers' big-ticket Trade Deadline acquisition is going to be a free agent -- and the No. 1 free agent by far. Can the Dodgers keep the two-time Cy Young winner in Los Angeles for the long haul? Here's where they stand on the Skubal sweepstakes.   • Will Shohei Ohtani be fully healthy going into 2027? Ohtani looked better in Game 4 of the NLCS, bashing his first home run since Aug. 18, but he's still dealing with his knee and biceps issues that hampered him down the stretch and forced him to stop pitching. Ohtani said last night that he plans to be a two-way player again next season, but he also isn't sure if he'll need surgery to address his injuries.   • How will they create playing time for Josue De Paula? The 21-year-old star prospect looked great in his first big league action, but De Paula's at-bats were largely blocked in the playoffs by Ohtani at designated hitter. And going into next season, the Dodgers' outfield is full, too, with Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker. Los Angeles might need to get creative to get De Paula into the lineup.   Sonja Chen has more on the state of the Dodgers after their NLCS loss. CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULES, MILWAUKEE Now that the Brewers are finally back in the World Series, the entire City of Milwaukee is clearing its schedule.    It's been quite a while since Milwaukee got to host a World Series game. The last time the Brewers were in the Fall Classic, 44 years ago: They were an American League team. The League Championship Series was best-of-five. None of the 2026 Brewers were alive (Captain Christian Yelich, the oldest current Brewer at 34, was 10 years away from being born). Pat Murphy was still playing baseball in the Minors. Robin Yount was about to win his first MVP. (Will these Brewers have their own Hall of Famers?) The Bucks were perennial playoff contenders in the NBA, led by Sidney Moncrief. You get the point. It was a different era. All of Milwaukee has been waiting for this for a long time.    That includes the Bucks, whose home opener was scheduled for the same night as Game 1 of the World Series -- which will be in Milwaukee next Friday, Oct. 23.    So the Bucks are making way for the Crew. They announced today that they're moving up their game to a 3 p.m. CT tipoff "in recognition of this historic occasion."   Right now, Milwaukee is a baseball town. © 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Please review our Privacy Policy. 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