2026 MLB playoffs: Winners and losers as Dodgers, Rays advance, Yankees sent home in ALCS sweep

MLB's postseason continued on Wednesday with four potential Division Series clinchers. Regardless of the outcomes, this will be the last day with four games this season, so enjoy it. We won't get more than two games per day moving forward.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the Atlanta Braves home for good with their Game 4 win to advance to the NLCS, and the Milwaukee Brewers are trying to close out their series against the San Diego Padres. On the American League side, the Chicago White Sox suffered their first loss of the playoffs as the Cleveland Guardians staved off elimination, while the Tampa Bay Rays are trying to finish a three-game sweep over the New York Yankees.

Here are the final scores and schedule for Wednesday's postseason action:

FINAL: Guardians 9, White Sox 3 (box score); White Sox lead series 2-1

FINAL: Dodgers 4, Braves 1 (box score); Dodgers win series 3-1

FINAL: Rays 4, Yankees 3 (GameTracker); Rays win series 3-0

LIVE: Brewers at Padres (GameTracker); Brewers lead series 2-1

To sum up all the Division Series action, we're here to declare a winner and loser from each of the four Wednesday contests. You can find those declarations just below.

Winner: The Rays' power from unexpected places

Raise your hand if you'd heard of Víctor Mesa Jr. and Ryan Vilade before tonight

When you think of the 2026 Rays and power, you inevitably think of MVP candidate Junior Caminero, who launched 42 homers during the regular season. Then you probably think of Jonathan Arando and Yandy Díaz, who had 22 apiece.

You might not think of outfielder Víctor Mesa Jr. and utility guy Ryan Vilade, who ranked, respectively, fifth and seventh on the Rays in home runs this season. To be sure, each has some pop, especially Mesa Jr., who batted cleanup in Kevin Cash's Game 3 lineup on Wednesday night. Still, it's fair to call them not the usual suspects when it comes to series-clinching power outbursts. That, though, is precisely what the duo did against the Yankees.

First, it was Vilade, who broke a fourth-inning tie by going yard to the opposite field off a 2-1 Max Fried fastball:

Statcast estimates that would've been a home run in six of 30 MLB parks, so it wasn't entirely a Yankee Stadium special.

The game was tied again in the top of the sixth when Mesa Jr. bombed a first-pitch sweeper from Fried to deep right center:

Mesa knew it, as they say. That made it a 4-2 lead for Tampa Bay, and although the Yankees would draw a run closer it was enough to send the Rays to the ALCS.

Loser: Anthony Volpe

The fan interference wasn't his fault, but it hurt nonetheless

Not because he played poorly. Far from it. Volpe was maybe the best Yankee on the field in Game 3. Either him or Ben Rice. Volpe went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring double in Game 3, but that double is why he's a loser. He's a loser because he "lost" a game-tying two-run homer. Replays showed a fan reached over the left field wall and interfered with the ball, so it was overturned into a double.

Here's the play. Volpe and everyone in Yankee Stadium thought he hit the game-tying home run. He even got to trot all the way around the bases. The side angle makes it pretty clear though. The ball wasn't going over the wall. From the high of thinking you hit a game-tying homer to the letdown of having to settle for a one-run double. Still productive! Just not quite the same.

"After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play," MLB's Replay Center said in a statement. "The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught. The call is OVERTURNED, there was spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the batter-runner at second."

Game 3 was Volpe's only start of the ALDS and his first start since Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox. He went 1 for 3 in that game, so that's 3 for 7 in the postseason. I don't think the Yankees would have won the ALDS had Volpe started Games 1 and 2, but it probably wouldn't have hurt. Fan interference -- correctly called, to be sure -- took away a game-tying homer. That's a tough break with the season on the line.

Winner: Andy Pages

One of the Dodgers' worst playoff hitters came through with redemption

Believe it or not, the Dodgers entered Game 4 of the NLDS having only scored runs on home runs thus far in the series. Seven home runs had brought home 10 Dodgers runs, and that was enough to give them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. They had gone 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

An error scored them a run early in Game 4, but they still hadn't gotten a clutch hit without muscling up for big-time power.

Fast-forward to the top of the seventh inning. It was a 1-1 game. Braves reliever Didier Fuentes came on with a runner on and two outs. He got a groundout before he walked two Dodgers hitters and manager Walt Weiss decided to turn to the veteran Robert Suarez with the bases loaded and two out. Andy Pages was coming to the plate.

Pages came through with a line-drive single up the middle to plate two runs.

Not only was it the knock that ended up sending the Dodgers back to the NLCS, but it was a bit of playoff redemption for Pages. He was so bad at the plate last year in the playoffs that the Dodgers elected to remove him from the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series after previously starting him every game. Heading into Game 4 on Wednesday, Pages was a career .123/.165/.210 hitter in the playoffs.

Loser: Braves situational hitting

The Braves went 1 for 23 in the series with RISP

Thanks particularly to five walks issued by Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, the Braves had their share of chances to score runs in Game 4. They just couldn't come through in the clutch the way Pages did for the Dodgers. Well, that and they also had some rough batted-ball luck.

A leadoff Ozzie Albies double in the sixth inning didn't amount to any runs. Per Statcast, that double, by the way, would've been a home run in 29 of the 30 MLB ballparks. It's just that they happened to be playing in the one where it didn't leave the yard. Then Mauricio Dubón sent a two-out liner to right field that hung up just long enough for Kyle Tucker to catch it. The expected batting average there was .620.

They also failed, though. Plenty in the entire series. In Game 1, they were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. In Game 2, despite the win, the Braves left 11 men on base. In Game 3, they were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, leaving six more on base.

In Game 4? Yep, that would be 0 for 7 with seven left on.

In all, that's 1 for 23 with runners in scoring position in the four-game series with 28 runners left on.

Part of this is a function of facing great playoff pitching against a defense that is always very well-positioned. Part of it is simply bad luck in where the balls are hit hard. Part of it is a failure in execution.

Taking splits like RISP stats isn't a predictive measure or anything like that, but it can tell the story in a series like this. In the case of the Dodgers taking the Braves out, we got here in large part due to the Braves leaving a high school classroom's worth of runners on base.

Winner: Jo Adell

The Guardians acquired Adell in front of the trade deadline and he's been an RBI machine

As the trade deadline came into focus, the Guardians, looking for cheap help on offense, ended up grabbing outfielder Jo Adell from the Angels in exchange for Double-A catcher Jacob Cozart. In 48 games for Cleveland, Adell posted a 108 OPS+ and drove home 32 runs. In Game 2, he recorded an eighth-inning RBI triple that nearly left the yard.

In Game 3 on Wednesday in Game 3, he came to the plate with two outs, bases loaded and a tied 1-1 score. Adell came through in a big way.

Just like that, it was a 4-1 Guardians lead. Adell also became the 16th player in postseason history to triple in back-to-back games (via Sarah Langs).

Adell's three-RBI triple moved the Guardians' chances to win the game from 52.8% to 78.8%. This was the largest difference-maker in the game, and a monster shift at that.

Loser: White Sox's missed opportunities

The White Sox had plenty of chances for crooked numbers in this one

Playing in front of an electric crowd, ready to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since 1906 (and we all remember that one, right?), the White Sox had several chances to put up a crooked number and weren't able to come through.

In the first, Sam Anonacci walked and Miguel Vargas singled to give them two runners with no outs. Kyle Teel came through with a one-out double, but Vargas was held at third. Chase Meidroth and Tristan Peters struck out to leave two on base.

Meidroth and Peters started the fourth with consecutive doubles, but the following three hitters were retired, so, again, the White Sox settled for just the one run.

In the fifth, Antonacci singled and Vargas walked. The runners moved up on a grounder and then Teel ripped a line drive toward right field, only to watch it get snared by Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana, who then doubled Vargas off second. The expected batting average on this one makes it even tougher to swallow for the White Sox faithful, as it was .940. This means that 94% of the time a ball hit with that exit velocity at that launch angle ends up as a hit. This was one of the 6% that found a glove.

In the sixth, with two outs, Braden Montgomery walked, Randal Grichuk singled, Colson Montgomery was hit by a pitch and then so was Antonacci. They got a run, but the bases were loaded for their best player, Vargas. He hit a rocket toward left, but Guardians third baseman José Ramírez was able to knock the ball down and get Vargas at first. Vargas hit it hard, with a .580 expected batting average. It just didn't work out.

You never want to come away empty-handed in those innings, and the White Sox were able to get a single run in three of those frames. Still, it feels like there was a lot left on the board here from the home team. An explosion in a single inning could've demoralized the Guardians and ultimately sent them home. Some of the issues were their own fault, and some were bad luck. It all added up to a Game 4 White Sox loss.