The Black Baseball Mixtape

They talk a big game, but they back it up. Before Game 6 of the ALCS Yandy Diaz guaranteed a Rays victory. And then in the bottom of the 8th inning, Diaz delivered a two-run blast that virtually ended the game. The Rays won the close-out game 7-3. The ALCS MVA “fastball” Freddy Peralta continued his excellent postseason. He pitched 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3Ks. The Rays were sparked by upstart second baseman Richie Palacios who delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the 2nd. Junior Caminero hit a critical two-run homer in the bottom of the 7th, that made the score 5-1 at the time. That felt like a decisive blow, before Diaz really put the game away. Rays Manager Kevin Cash called on Bryan Barker to pitch the 9th, and the rest was history.

This sets up a Rays versus Brewers World Series, and guarantees a first-time World Series winner. The Series starts on Friday in Milwaukee.

The Rays and the Brewers are the right World Series. They’ve been the best team in their respective leagues all year. The Rays open as a slight favorite in Vegas, but this is about as even as a matchup as you’re going to get. I can’t wait.

Let me know your prediction. Finish Your Breakfast.

It was one of those special October days in Cleveland. A few hours before the Guardians took on the Rays in a pivotal Game 5, the Browns had a stunning come-from-behind victory against their AFC rival, the Baltimore Ravens. Over 36K fans filed into Progressive Field hoping the Guardians would take control of the series as it shifts back to Tampa for Game 6, and possibly 7.

Despite the ambition of the Cleveland faithful, the Rays, and particularly their ace pitcher Drew Rasmussen, had other plans. Rassmussen took the ball and delivered another playoff gem; he went 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 Ks. The Rays got timely hitting from Jonathan Aranda and Liam Hicks, and won the game 3-1. The series now shifts back to Tampa, with the Rays one game away from the World Series.

The Guardians are very tough with their back against the wall, and that is exactly the position they are in. The Rays will start Freddy Peralta on Monday night — the Guardians have not named their starter. If the Guardians need bulletin board look no further than a win guarantee from the Rays’ Yandy Diaz. “It's a great opportunity. All of us are thinking of it,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “But it all ends tomorrow. We're going to win tomorrow.”

For the first time in 44 years, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series. They are the first team in MLB history to be swept out of the NLCS the previous year and come back to sweep the same team the following year. The Brewers were down 4-0 after Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run of the postseason. The Dodgers faithful were hoping the 3-run blast would exorcise some of Shohei’s postseason woes and get the Dodgers back on track, but the Brew Crew had other plans. NLCS MVP Jake Bauers doubled in two runs in the fourth, and the comeback was on. In the 5th, David Hamilton, the only African American on the Brewers’ NLCS roster, hit an RBI single to cut the lead to one. After that, in the same inning, Bauers drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Garrett Mitchell homered in the 6th, and Hamilton homered in the 9th, and the final score of the game was 6-4. Aaron Ashby got the last nine outs of the game, and before that, JoJo Romero was lights out in the fifth and sixth innings.

Following the game, Dodgers veteran Miguel Rojas announced his retirement. The 13-year veteran, a native of Venezuela, appeared in 1,401 games for the Marlins and the Dodgers. He batted 260/313/363, with 61 HR and 386 RBIs—no homer or RBI bigger than his heroics in the 2025 World Series. The Dodgers were down to their last out; Rojas hit a dramatic game-tying solo home run in the 9th inning of Game 7. The Dodgers went on to win the game and secure back-to-back championships.

Where do the Dodgers go from here? There’s plenty of time to discuss that. Keep following the Black Baseball Mixtape Substack, podcast, and Discord.

To Cleveland: The Guardians took a 2-1 series lead, following their 3-2 win in Game 3. The big blow came off the bat of Guardians’ center fielder Petey Halpin. His go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth put Cleveland up for good. Guardians’ ace Gavin Williams took the ball to start the game. He struck out nine over five innings. Nathaniel Lowe got the Guardians on the board in the second inning with an RBI double. The Rays only mustered three hits. Gold Glove finalist Chandler Simpson hit a two-run triple in the 4th for the Rays’ only runs.

Game 4 is not a must-win for Tampa, but it’s starting to feel like it. The Rays and the Guardians take the field tonight at 8 PM EST.

Brewers star Jackson Chourio hit the first pitch of the Game 3 over the right field wall. That should have been a sign for 2026 Dodgers fans that this ain’t the same Brewers of years past. Nonetheless, the Dodgers, particularly starting pitcher Blake Snell, settled down and actually got into a groove after Chourio’s first-pitch blitz. The Dodgers took the lead in the 6th thanks to a bases-loaded double by Will Smith. But everything changed in the 7th. Jake Bauers took the 11th pitch he saw from Snell over the wall. The two-run homer gave the Brewers the lead, 3-2. Garrett Mitchell made it 4-2 on the very next at-bat, and the Brewers took Game 3 and a complete chokehold on the NLDS.

There is no way around this; the Dodgers look old, tired, and injured. The postseason magic that secured back-to-back championships seems to have lost all its potency. Ohtani is banged up, Betts is struggling despite last night’s two-run double, and Will Smith has been struggling. The entire Dodgers team has struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. That is not the case for the Brewers.

The Brewers got an outstanding pitching performance from starter Robert Gasser: 5 IP, 3H, 0E ER, 3K. Notwithstanding a rare tough postseason outing from Uribe, whom the Brewers have faced in every game, the bullpen continued its standard dominance.

Are the Dodgers cooked? I think so, but at least one game remains in the NLCS.

Joining me on today’s FYB are our good brother Flobito, and first-time guest Justin Wylie.

It happens to everyone, and last night it happened to future Hall of Famer José Ramírez: a choppy ground ball went right through his legs. A costly error led directly to one run, and on the next play, another two runs off Liam Hicks. Thanks to a rough defensive inning from Ramírez, the Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead. And they never looked back. Fastball Freddy Peralta had it going: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 6 K. And the Rays bullpen did the job. The only Guardians run came off the bat of Chase DeLauter, who doubled in Patrick Bailey in the top of the 7th.

The series is now tied 1-1 and moves to Cleveland. My gut says the Rays are the better team, but anything can happen when the margins for error are so thin.

The Dodgers and Brewers are back in action tonight, and this is a must-win game for the defending champions. Blake Snell takes the mound for L.A. and hopes to rebound from a rocky performance in the NLDS. Robert Gasser is on the mound for Milwaukee. WHO? That’s right, Robert Gasser. He is 5-5 this season with a 3.876 ERA, 103 Ks, and a 1.19 WHIP. He got the start in Game 4 of the NLDS and pitched four innings in the Brewers’ series-winning victory.

After much media debate, it is clear that Shohei Ohtani will be in the lineup tonight. He has been struggling with his health (hip) and at the plate, but you can’t leave the GOAT on the sidelines when you’re fighting for your life.

Time and time again, when the Dodgers need a big win, they turn to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They did that last night, and it did not work. Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ best postseason pitcher, only lasted 2.2 IP. The Brewers scored runs in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th. The Dodgers also used eight pitchers in the game - never a good sign. William Contreras did the most damage to the Dodgers’ pitching. Contreras was 3-for-4, with a home run and three RBIs. Every time the Brewers needed a big hit, Contreras delivered. The Brewers used five pitchers themselves, but their bullpen was outstanding. They did not give up a hit after the 4th inning. The final score was 7-4, but it felt like a bigger win.

The Dodgers now head to L.A. and will try to “get right.” This really applies to the Dodgers’ star, Shohei Ohtani, who isn’t hitting and isn’t healthy. The Dodgers will evaluate if he can even be in the lineup moving forward.

What do you think? Should the Dodgers sit Ohtani? If they do, do they have any chance of going back to their third World Series in three years?

It was a back-and-forth game at the Trop — until it wasn’t. The Guardians, the team that was supposed to be tired and worn out, took control of the game in the second half, outscoring the Rays 7-1 after the 5th inning. Jose Ramirez was 3-for-5, with an RBI and two runs scored. Jo Adell had a huge hit in the 9th that put the Guardians up 7-3. There were few bright spots for the Rays. Their ace Drew Rasmussen gave up 8 hits and 2 ER in six innings of work. He had seven strikeouts. The Rays pulled BBM favorite Cedric Mullins out of witness protection, and Ced delivered an eight-inning homer. Cleveland used six pitchers in the game- a sign of the times (the Rays used six). The final score was 7-3.

While the NL travels, Game 2 between the Guardians and the Rays is tonight at 8 PM—Parker Messick vs. Freddy Peralta.

The Milwaukee Brewers deeply believe they can win close games. Last night, on one of the biggest stages in all of the baseball, Game 1 of the NLCS, the Brewers used their ingrained confidence and timely hitting from Brice Turang and 21-year-old Luis Lara to defeat the defending champion Dodgers and take a one-game lead in the best-of-seven series.

The game was billed as the ultimate pitcher's duel between the fireballer Jacob Misiorowski and two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, and they both showed the crowd why they are worth the price of admission. Skubal: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 Ks. He was really good, but the few mistakes he made, one to Turang in the 4th for a solo home run, and one to Luis Lara in the 5th, proved to be the difference in the closely contested game. Misiorowski: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5K, seemed to be fighting with his stuff most of his time. He worked in and out of jams, but only gave up one run in the top of the first.

The story of the game was the Brewers bullpen. Hall, Uribe, Ashby, and Megill shot the Dodgers down from the 4th inning on. Uribe was the only member of the Brewers bullpen to give up a hit. The Dodgers bullpen: Vesia, Phillips, and Scott were also excellent.

This is a game the Brewers had to win. They couldn’t have afforded to lose ground in the Series with Misiorowski on the hill. Now the pressure shifts to the Dodgers and Yamamoto. Though the Dodgers don’t need to win a game in Milwaukee tonight, they must win with Yamamoto on the mound.

Game 2 is tonight at 5 PM EST on FS1.

Cleveland is once again Believe-land. They are only the 11th team out of over 90 (I think 94) to come back from 0-2 in a best-of-5 Divisional series to advance to the ALCS. They completed the task behind an outstanding pitching night - led by Ace Gavin Williams, and a very strong bullpen. The White Sox struck out a record 21 times, and the Guardians got a huge blast from their future Hall of Famer Jose Ramirez to win the game and series. The final score in the game was 2-0.

Clinton Yates joined FYB this morning to share a little fun fact about Michael Harris II.

Make sure you check out the Black Baseball Mixtape’s brand-new podcast episode with former MLB player, current baseball development expert C.J. Stewart.

The NLCS starts tonight. Enjoy the baseball. See you tomorrow.

After three hours and thirty-nine minutes, and a whopping 15 pitching changes between the White Sox and Guardians, we are heading to a game 5 on Saturday night in Cleveland.

The Guardians scored 6 runs in the top of the 6th inning. Angel Martínez scored on a pitch that hit him, stole second, and then scored on a Bazzana double to make it 4-4. Former Richmond Flying Squirrel Patrick Bailey singled Bazzana home. José Ramírez scored Bailey on an infield single. Chase DeLauter singled in a run, and then Jo Adell hit a 2-run single to give the Guardians a 9-4 lead.

The Guardians' manager Stephen Vogt called on Gavin Williams to close out the game and secure the 9-5 victory.

The pivotal Game 5 will be in Cleveland on Saturday at 8 PM EST. The pitching matchup is still undisclosed, but I expect to see Sean Burke for the Sox and Gavin Williams for the Guardians.

To close out today’s episode, we get a special visit from my homie Santos of The Baseball Aficionado. I asked him to share his thoughts on the Dodgers’ close Edwin Diaz.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.

I’m going to take this morning recap in whole, rather than breaking down each game, simply because I’m excited about what I’m seeing overall: the best teams are winning. The Brewers have been the best team in the NL all season. They are moving on in the NLCS to take on the second-best team in the NL, the Dodgers. The Rays are the best team in the AL, and they are moving on to play - well, we don’t know yet. The Sox could put a wrench in my theory if they eliminate the Guardians tonight. But for the most part, the best teams throughout the season are the ones still dancing. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t bitter disappointment in San Diego, Atlanta, and the Bronx. On the contrary, it was bitter disappointment, especially in Atlanta and the Bronx. Yankees and Braves fans are not only disappointed, but downright angry with their teams. I understand the high expectations, but the anger online in Atlanta and the Bronx surprised me a little.

All baseball fans should be angry about something: around the same time the Braves were being eliminated from the playoffs, it was announced that their star, Ronald Acuna Jr., is the first active MLB player to partner with the prediction market Kalshi. Allowing these partnerships in professional sports is, at best, short-sighted. If I were betting on Kalshi or PolyMarket, I would bet this will ultimately harm professional sports and society at large.

Congrats to the Dodgers, Brewers, and Rays for moving on. The White Sox and Guardians play tonight at 8 PM EST. If the Sox clinch at home, it will the their first postseason series win in Chicago since 1906.