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Weekend Sports Recap: Rays, College Upsets, and WNBA Finals
The Tampa Bay Rays take a 3-2 lead in the ALCS, while top college football teams fall and the Golden State Valkyries win Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
By  Redacción MundoNow
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Logo de los Rays de Tampa Bay
Foto Bandera con el logo de los Rays de Tampa Bay. Foto: DepositPhotos

Posted on 10/19/26 at 09:40

This sports recap from Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18 features three stories: the Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from the American League pennant, college football saw a day of upsets with the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams falling, and the Golden State Valkyries won Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

MLB: Rays Take 3-2 Lead in ALCS

On Sunday, October 18, the Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 at Progressive Field in front of 36,303 fans. With this result, they lead the American League Championship Series 3-2, in a best-of-seven game series.

Drew Rasmussen was the standout player. The right-hander allowed one run in seven innings, with four hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. After Chase DeLauter’s single with two outs in the first, he retired nine consecutive batters. He used his changeup 27 times, compared to just 12 in the first game of the series. The Rays scored one run in each of the first three innings. Yandy Díaz, with three hits, opened with a double and scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jonny DeLuca. Jonathan Aranda and Liam Hicks drove in the other two runs.

Cleveland responded in the seventh with a DeLauter RBI single. Steven Kwan had two of the Guardians’ five hits and also threw out Taylor Walls at home and caught a Victor Mesa Jr. fly ball in center field. Bryan Baker closed out the ninth and reached 35 consecutive saves. Starter Parker Messick pitched only two innings, allowing two runs.

A day earlier, on Saturday, October 17, the Rays tied the series 2-2 with a 7-3 win in Game 4, which was rescheduled due to rain postponing the game on Friday. Aranda had three hits and two RBIs. Díaz added two hits and two RBIs, including a two-run homer in the ninth off Matt Festa. In the seventh, a DeLauter error allowed two runs to score. Nick Martinez allowed one run and two hits on a 46-degree Fahrenheit night, the coldest postseason game in Rays history. Travis Bazzana hit his first postseason homer for Cleveland.

The Milwaukee Brewers, National League champions, are already waiting in the World Series.

College Football: No. 1 and No. 2 Teams Fall on the Same Day

On Saturday, October 17, five of the top eight teams in the AP ranking lost, something that had never happened before on the same day of the regular season, according to Sportradar. Additionally, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams fell on the same day in the regular season for the first time since November 17, 2012. The rankings cited are prior to each game.

  • Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24: Alex McPherson kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired in Athens, Georgia. Byrum Brown ran for 115 yards and a touchdown and threw another touchdown pass. Georgia (6-1) had been winning 14-0, but Auburn (4-2) scored the next 24 points. Gunner Stockton threw two interceptions and lost a fumble with 58 seconds left to play.
  • No. 8 BYU 28, No. 2 Notre Dame 24: Bear Bachmeier threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Walker Lyons with 1:47 left to play in Provo, Utah. He ran for two touchdowns, caught another, and threw for 224 yards. BYU (6-0) defeated Notre Dame (6-1) for the first time since 2004. The Big 12 acknowledged that the final play should have had time on the clock and that the replay team incorrectly called it a dead play.
  • No. 4 Ohio State 19, No. 5 Indiana 15: the Buckeyes held on in Bloomington, Indiana, when Nick Marsh’s foot touched out of bounds on what would have been the go-ahead touchdown with 1:02 left to play. The cost was high: quarterback Julian Sayin, who had thrown a 38-yard pass to Jeremiah Smith, will be out several weeks with a right arm injury.
  • No. 14 Tennessee 26, No. 6 Alabama 10: DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns in Knoxville. Alabama (5-2) lost two consecutive regular-season games for the first time since 2007, with four turnovers and 2 of 13 on third-down attempts.
  • Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24: in his first start, Tramell Jones Jr. threw two touchdown passes to Lacota Dippre in Austin. Jadan Baugh scored in the final quarter. The Gators (5-2) achieved their first road win against a top 10 team since 2012 and captured Arch Manning five times.

WNBA: Valkyries Win Game 1 of the Finals

On Saturday, October 17, the Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 68-64 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, in front of 18,064 spectators, and took a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Finals. Gabby Williams led with 26 points and Kaila Charles added 10 rebounds. Tiffany Hayes had four assists.

For Atlanta, Allisha Gray scored 19 points, Angel Reese grabbed 12 rebounds, and Jordin Canada had seven assists. Golden State had won all three regular-season matchups between the two teams.

What’s Next

  • MLB: Game 6 of the ALCS is on Monday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays can secure their third American League pennant and their first since 2020. Freddy Peralta will start. Cleveland has not announced a starter. If there is a Game 7, it will be on Tuesday, October 20. The World Series begins on Friday, October 23 in Milwaukee.
  • WNBA: Game 2 of the Finals will be played on Monday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET in San Francisco.
  • College: Auburn hosts LSU on Saturday, October 24, while BYU visits UCF on the same day. Georgia has a bye before facing Florida on October 31 in Atlanta, and Notre Dame visits Navy on that date. Indiana travels to Michigan next weekend, and Ohio State, after its bye week, visits USC on October 31. Texas hosts Ole Miss on October 24.

Sources

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