The 2026 MLB postseason continued Monday with Game 2 of both American League Division Series. The Chicago White Sox continued their perfect start to the playoffs, winning again over the Cleveland Guardians to take a 2-0 series lead. The White Sox are now 4-0 in the postseason, with all four victories coming on the road.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, bullied a flat-out terrible New York Yankees defense en route to a Game 2 win against Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler. The Rays had the AL’s best record and a Wild Card Series bye. They’re 2-0 in two postseason games.

Since the best-of-five Division Series became a thing in 1995, the team that won Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time, and 32% of the time the series ended in a sweep. The White Sox and Rays are certainly in the driver’s seat at the moment. Here are the final scores for Monday’s playoff action:

• FINAL: White Sox 4, Guardians 3 (box score); White Sox lead series 2-0
• FINAL: Rays 5, Yankees 2 (box score); Rays lead series 2-0

To sum up all the ALDS Game 2 action, we’re here to declare a winner and loser from both games. You can find those authoritative and inarguable declarations just below.

Winner: Putting the ball in play

The Rays are making the Yankees play defense in the ALDS

The ALDS is a contrast in styles. The Rays ranked 22nd in home runs during the regular season and had the lowest strikeout rate. The Yankees ranked second in homers and had the fourth-highest strikeout rate. The Rays used a solo homer to pick up a 1-0 win in Game 1, so they have some power. In Game 2, their contact skills led to a comedy of Yankees errors.

New York’s infield made four (!) misplays within the first five batters of the game to gift the Rays a 1-0 lead Monday. Ryan McMahon whiffed on a ground ball, Jazz Chisholm Jr. threw the ball away on a double play attempt, Austin Wells committed catcher interference, then Chisholm pulled George Lombard Jr. off the bag on a 4-6-3 double play attempt. A calamity, this is:

It didn’t end there. The Rays scored four runs in a fifth inning that started with Spencer Jones getting a terrible jump on a leadoff single (Statcast had it 13.4 feet below average) that plopped in front of him. Lombard then bobbled a grounder with the infield in and a runner on third, and first baseman Luis Gárcia Jr. had the would-be third out clank in and out of his glove.

The Gárcia play was charged as an error on Lombard for the off-line throw. Regardless, it extended the inning, and Richie Palacios followed with a two-run single to make it a 5-1 Rays lead.

All told, the Yankees were charged with four errors in Game 2 (Chisholm, Lombard, McMahon, Wells), and they had three other misplays that were not scored errors. This has been the scouting report for years. Put the ball in play and the Yankees will beat themselves. No team is better positioned to take advantage of that than the Rays.

The win puts Tampa one victory away from their first trip to the ALCS since 2020.

Loser: Ben Rice

Rice has been the best hitter in the playoffs, but his effort was wasted on Monday

Why? Because his teammates made his monster game a footnote. Ben Rice went 2 for 3 with two home runs and a walk in Game 2. He is 7 for 15 with four homers in New York’s four postseason games. It’s only been a handful of games, but Rice has been the best hitter in baseball in October.

Here is his first Game 2 homer, which temporarily tied the game 1-1:

Rice’s big postseason has not come out of nowhere. He slugged 41 home runs and was a deserving All-Star this year, and his 67 home runs the last two years are the 13th most in baseball. That’s even though Rice did not become a lineup mainstay until late last April. The Yankees don’t have Aaron Judge due to injury, but Rice is doing his best Judge impression right now.

Two games into the ALDS, the Yankees have scored two runs on Rice’s solo homers, and they have almost as many errors (four) as hits (five). Rice is trying, but he can’t do it all himself. The Yankees are one loss away from their second consecutive ALDS defeat and having Rice’s postseason effort go for naught.

Winner: The Garrett Crochet trade

The White Sox traded Crochet in 2024, and the three position players they got in return all contributed in Game 2

For the second time this postseason, the three position players the White Sox received in the Garrett Crochet trade with the Red Sox guided them to a win. They did it in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Astros, and in Game 2 of the ALDS on Monday. Those three players — Chase Meidroth, Braden Montgomery, Kyle Teel — went a combined 4 for 12 with 3 RBI.

Teel helped the White Sox get on the board with his leadoff single in the fourth inning. He later came around to score Chicago’s first run on a Munetaka Murakami single. Montgomery provided the game’s biggest blow. He drove a two-out, two-run double to right field in the sixth inning, which flipped a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the White Sox. This, as the kids say, is a nice piece of hitting:

Meidroth followed with a single to right to score Montgomery and give the White Sox what proved to be an important insurance run. The Crochet trade bounty had four of Chicago’s six hits in Game 2 and either scored or drove in all four runs. Sean Burke, who was not part of the Crochet trade, threw 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball behind a pair of openers. He struck out six. He was terrific.

The White Sox did not want to trade Crochet two years ago. They’d just lost a modern record 121 games, however, and needed to add talent up and down the roster. So, Crochet was dealt to Boston, and it sure seems like GM Chris Getz nailed the trade. Three of the four players he received in the deal are playing major roles in October. This is how you draw it up.

Pope Leo’s White Sox are now one win away from their first ALCS since their 2005 World Series win.

Loser: GuardsBall

The Guardians’ offense has been missing for 18 innings so far in the playoffs

It is really, really hard to hit in the postseason. Don’t believe me? Teams came into Monday hitting .211/.293/.352 this postseason, and .174/.277/.295 in the Division Series. The pitchers are so nasty, they’re well-rested thanks to the built-in off-days, and their matchups are all optimized. Every base hit in the postseason is a tiny little miracle, I swear.

The Guardians, two games into their postseason run, are learning that the hard way. They were shut out in Game 1 and held to three hits. In Game 2, they had only four hits, three of which were singles. To date, Cleveland’s biggest offensive play in the ALDS is Sean Newcomb’s two-run throwing error in the first inning Monday. Here are two of the three runs the Guardians scored in Game 2 (and in the series):

Including Newcomb’s error, four of the first five Guardians reached base in Game 2. Only four of the final 30 reached base, most notably Jo Adell’s RBI triple in the eighth inning. With all due respect, this is not a dominant White Sox pitching staff. They’ve had to cobble it together with openers and bullpen games this postseason. Credit to them for keeping Cleveland in check.

The Guardians are not exactly an offensive powerhouse though. They ranked 24th in runs and 27th in home runs during the regular season. It’s the same story every year. The Guardians rally in the second half to win the AL Central, then have a hard time putting points on the board in October. That is certainly the case this year. Three runs on seven hits through two ALDS games. Yeesh.

Cleveland is one loss away from elimination. The Guardians are 2-8 in their last 10 postseason games dating back to 2024.