The Buzz — Tuesday, October 13

William Contreras

The take Contreras clutch multi-RBI night gives Brewers 2-0 NLCS lead

He became the fourth player ever to deliver three game-tying or go-ahead hits in a single postseason game — Sandy Alomar Jr., Steve Garvey, and George Brett are the company. That is not a good night. That is a game you tell people you saw.

The 436-foot solo shot in the fifth tied it 4-4 and erased the Dodgers' third lead of the night. The single in the sixth — after Los Angeles intentionally walked Brice Turang to get to him — put Milwaukee ahead for good. Every RBI he drove in came in a tying or go-ahead spot. The Wild Bill trot and the bat toss are what the timeline grabs, but the substance is that the Brewers go to Los Angeles up 2-0 on the two-time defending champions because one catcher would not let a lead stand.

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Shohei Ohtani

The take Dodgers eye benching slumping injured Ohtani NLCS G3

110 plate appearances without a home run is a career high. This is not a bad week — it is a power outage that started August 18, with one RBI since then and a postseason line of 3-for-20 with no extra-base hits across six games. Over eight weeks, including injured-list time, he is hitting .156/.283/.200. The slump is real, and the numbers are nowhere near the line where you wave it off as bad luck on hard contact.

The injuries are the explanation. He has been managing a right biceps and left knee issue since June, and the Dodgers placed him on the 15-day IL in mid-September. Roberts told The Athletic he will have a conversation with Ohtani about what is best for him and for the team, and said plainly: "He doesn't feel great." The lineup already dropped him to fifth — the lowest spot he has held as a Dodger, and his lowest since 2020 with the Angels. This is progressive concern, not one bad night after a long flight.

Here is the uncomfortable part. A source told ESPN the Dodgers will sit him for Game 3 only if he deems himself compromised; the default is still playing him, and any formal decision also involves Andrew Friedman. But .150 with seven strikeouts across six playoff games is not a stretch you hit through, and the champions are down 0-2. The question is not whether Ohtani is hurt. The question is whether the Dodgers will be the team that says so out loud.

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Chase DeLauter

The take DeLauter sparks Guardians ALCS Game 1 comeback behind Ramirez

He reached base four times and scored three runs in a 7-3 road win, becoming the third-youngest player in Cleveland franchise history to reach base four times with seven total bases in a postseason game — four days past his 25th birthday. The opposite-field solo shot off Drew Rasmussen opened Cleveland's scoring in the sixth and cut the Rays' lead to 2-1. His eighth-inning double, after a Ramírez infield single, set up the two-run single that put Cleveland ahead for good.

But the number that matters for the series is the one you cannot put in a box score: because DeLauter is hitting behind Ramírez, teams are still pitching to Ramírez. A rookie who hit .287 with 16 home runs and 3.5 WAR across 133 games is not a prospect tease. He is the reason the Rays have to choose between challenging the franchise star and dealing with the man behind him.

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Freddy Peralta

The take Rays starter Peralta vs Messick in ALCS Game 2

Peralta takes the ball Tuesday night at Tropicana Field trying to even the series after Cleveland's 7-3 Game 1 win, and the Rays have a good reason to hand it to him: he went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA over five September starts after arriving as a midseason acquisition. He has not faced Cleveland this season, which means the Guardians have no recent book on him — and he has no room for a slow adjustment against a lineup that just scored seven. Opposite him is Parker Messick, a Tampa-area native making a hometown start for Cleveland.

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