--- title: "🏀 Yankees' home run almost tied it, but one hand ruined it all: Rays sweep into ALCS | AI Sports Weekly" description: "The Rays held off a controversial call to clinch their win, sweeping the Yankees in three straight games to reach the franchise's third ALCS appearance. The Guardians, meanwhile, won two straight at the White Sox to force the series to a decisive Game 5, with their bullpen setting a new MLB postseason record of 19 strikeouts in a single game. LeBron James donned a 76ers jersey for his preseason debut, delivering a brilliant assist in just one quarter, we'll show you how one pass set up a rookie's dunk, plus big news from the NFL and NHL this week." canonical_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/sports-weekly/sports-weekly-2026-10-09" author: "Mark Ku" author_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku" site: "Mark Ku's Tech Notes" date_published: "2026-10-09T02:00:00.000Z" category: "AI Sports Weekly" tags: ["sports", "podcast", "運動", "MLB", "光芒", "洋基", "守護者", "NBA", "LeBronJames", "七六人"] language: "en" license: "CC BY 4.0" license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" attribution: "when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original" --- # 🏀 Yankees' home run almost tied it, but one hand ruined it all: Rays sweep into ALCS | AI Sports Weekly > **TL;DR** — Tampa Bay swept New York in the ALDS with a 4-3 Game 3 victory highlighted by Victor Mesa Jr. ## Opening The Rays clinched a controversial call to extend their lead, swept the Yankees in three straight, and advanced to their third ALCS in franchise history. The Guardians, meanwhile, won back-to-back games at the White Sox's home park to force a decisive Game 5, with their bullpen setting a new MLB postseason record of 19 strikeouts in a single game. LeBron James suited up in a 76ers jersey for the first time, delivering a highlight-reel assist in his preseason debut that we'll break down in a moment, along with this week's big headlines from the NFL and NHL. ## Sponsor note: PremLogin Double Ten sale - **Dates**: Oct 10 to Oct 18, 2026 - **Offer**: buy 12 months of an eligible annual plan and get 1 month free (13 months total) - **Eligible**: Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Tidal, Canva Pro, Office 365, Duolingo, plus selected ChatGPT, Grok and Perplexity plans - **Not eligible**: standalone-account and top-up plans for ChatGPT, Grok and Perplexity, and Claude top-up plans - **New-customer code**: `markku666` (5% off the first order; whether it stacks with the sale is shown at checkout) - **Sale link**: (affiliate link) - **Full review and risks**: PremLogin is a third-party subscription-sharing platform. It sells shared seats and is not an official authorized reseller, so read the usage rules before you buy. ## This Week's Top Sports Stories ### 1. Rays Sweep Yankees, Controversial Call Helps Clinch ALCS Berth - **What happened**: The Rays beat the Yankees 4-3 at home in Game 3 to complete a 3-0 sweep, marking the first time in franchise history they've advanced to the ALCS via a sweep. The decisive blow came from rookie Victor Mesa Jr., who hit a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning. Anthony Volpe's apparent game-tying two-run homer for the Yankees was overturned after replay review showed a fan reaching over the wall, which was ruled fan interference. The call was downgraded to a double, effectively erasing the Yankees' chance to tie the game. - **Why it matters**: This is only the third ALCS appearance in Rays history, and the first time they've gotten there by sweeping a series. On top of that, a controversial replay call flipped the entire game, making it one of the more dramatic finishes of the postseason. - **Source**: [MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-win-alds-2026) ### 2. Guardians' Wild Survival Act: Record 19 Strikeouts, Then a Comeback to Force Game 5 - **What happened**: Facing elimination in Game 3, the Guardians' pitching staff combined for 19 strikeouts, setting a new MLB postseason record for a nine-inning game, striking out every batter in the White Sox lineup at least once. Reliever Foster Griffin alone racked up 7 strikeouts, setting a franchise record for a reliever in a single postseason game. In Game 4, Cleveland trailed 4-3 after five innings, then exploded for 6 runs in the sixth to complete a come-from-behind win, finishing 9-5 to force a decisive Game 5. José Ramírez had also delivered a key two-run homer earlier in the series. - **Why it matters**: Down 0-2 in the series and facing elimination, the Guardians pulled off a historic pitching performance and a massive one-inning offensive outburst to stay alive, pushing the series to a winner-take-all finale. - **Source**: [MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/guardians/news/foster-griffin-sets-guardians-postseason-relief-strikeout-record-in-alds-game-3), [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/guardians-white-sox-alds-game-4-mlb-playoffs/) ### 3. LeBron Dons 76ers Jersey, Sets Up Rookie Dunk in Preseason Debut - **What happened**: LeBron James made his preseason debut in a 76ers jersey at the Nets' home arena, putting up 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in 18 minutes, going 1-for-1 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. All five of his assists came in the first quarter, including a one-handed dish that set up rookie VJ Edgecombe for a dunk. This game marked the first time the Sixers' starting five, Maxey, Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron, and Embiid, took the court together. Jaylen Brown led the team with 18 points as Philadelphia fell 108-114. - **Why it matters**: This was LeBron's first real test of chemistry with his new team, and he immediately showed off his veteran vision and passing touch. The on-court chemistry of this new starting five has quickly become one of the most talked-about storylines heading into the season. - **Source**: [NBC Sports Philadelphia](https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nba/philadelphia-76ers/sixers-vs-nets-lebron-james-preseason-debut-nba/757523/) ### 4. Undrafted Rookie QB Leads Buccaneers to Upset Win Over Cowboys on Thursday Night - **What happened**: The Buccaneers beat the Cowboys 24-16 on Thursday Night Football for their first win of the season, improving to 1-4, while Dallas dropped to 2-3. Filling in for Baker Mayfield was undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who went 19-for-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown with zero turnovers. Running back Bucky Irving set a career high with 165 rushing yards, including a 72-yard run, and scored two touchdowns as Tampa Bay blew the game open with a 17-0 third quarter. - **Why it matters**: An undrafted rookie quarterback stepped into a high-pressure start and delivered a turnover-free performance, becoming just the second undrafted rookie QB in history to beat the Cowboys in his starting debut. It's one of the most inspiring upset stories of the week. - **Source**: [NFL.com](https://www.nfl.com/news/buccaneers-cowboys-on-thursday-night-football-what-we-learned-from-tampa-bay-s-24-16-win) ### 5. Capitals Edge Penguins in Ovechkin's Final Home Opener - **What happened**: The Capitals beat the Penguins 5-3 in what's set to be Ovechkin's final home opener of his career. Tom Wilson led all scorers with a goal and two assists. Just 23 seconds into the game, Anthony Beauvillier beat his former teammate Kris Letang with a backhand shot for the opening goal, also marking the 300th point of his career. Ovechkin had announced just days earlier that this would be his final season, and the crowd gave him a standing ovation during the pregame introductions, with his two sons, Sergei and Ilya, watching from the sidelines. - **Why it matters**: A legendary player winning on his home ice during what's being billed as his farewell season, with his family there to witness it, gives this win an extra layer of significance beyond the final score. - **Source**: [NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/news/pittsburgh-penguins-washington-capitals-game-recap-october-7-2026) ### 6. Just Three Days After Winning Beijing, Djokovic Suffers Shock Second-Round Exit in Shanghai - **What happened**: Just three days after winning the China Open in Beijing, a tournament where he's never lost a match in his career, Djokovic was stunned in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Hubert Hurkacz, the 2023 Shanghai champion. It was Hurkacz's first win over Djokovic in nine career meetings. According to Sky Sports, Djokovic admitted afterward that he simply couldn't find his rhythm on court, noting that the court speed in Shanghai was completely different from Beijing, and that a single service break was enough to cost him the match. - **Why it matters**: Going from a near-untouchable title run in Beijing to a completely different result just days later in a neighboring city captures exactly how unpredictable professional tennis can be. - **Source**: [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/13596842/novak-djokovic-knocked-out-of-shanghai-masters-in-second-round-as-britains-arthur-fery-is-also-beaten) ## Closing The most memorable moment of the week has to be that overturned home run call against the Yankees, a single instant that handed the Rays their ticket to the next round. Up ahead, the Dodgers face the Brewers, fresh off setting a franchise RBI record, in the NLCS, while the ALCS awaits the winner of this Game 5 showdown. There's plenty more drama to come, so join us again in the next episode as we keep following the action. --- ## About this article and its author Originally published on [Mark Ku's Tech Notes](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/sports-weekly/sports-weekly-2026-10-09) License: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original ### About the author **[Mark Ku](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku)** — Software engineer - 10+ years as a software engineer - Built North-American e-commerce and AI SaaS subscription billing ### Free tools built by the author All of these are free to use: - [Free PDF Sign Tool](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/pdf-sign): Online PDF sign tool — draw, type, or upload a signature, then drag, resize, and download. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. - [VS Code Refactory](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/refactory): Refactory is a VS Code refactoring extension: 34 actions plus a 37-rule code-smell inspection layer with a Code Health dashboard, across 18 languages, backed by 534 tests. It learns your repo's conventions: where interfaces live, where DI is registered, whether 'use client' belongs. It ranks files by git churn × complexity so you know what to fix first, and hands any smell to the Claude Code already on your machine. Free to use, and your source never leaves your computer. - [DB-Kit Database Manager](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/db-kit): DB-Kit is a lightweight, cross-platform database manager built with Tauri + Rust + React. Manage MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Elasticsearch and RabbitMQ from one consistent interface: passwords encrypted in the OS keychain, SSH tunnels, full CRUD, a visual query builder, stacked multi-statement result sets, cross-connection data transfer, schema & data compare with sync SQL and schema snapshots, Excel / CSV import & export, visualized execution plans, ER diagrams, scheduled backups, SQL stress testing with p50–p99 latency percentiles, a 15-rule SQL review engine, Review & Run (AI review plus per-statement backups and an auto-generated rollback script), Kafka message browsing with monitoring & alerts, an SSH terminal with SFTP / FTP, Docker / Kubernetes, remote desktop (RDP / VNC / RustDesk), file / folder compare, stored procedure integration tests, six UI languages, a built-in AI assistant (a local CLI or any Anthropic / OpenAI-compatible API; natural-language SQL, AI review and tuning advice) and the dbk CLI. Free and open source (MIT), with installers for Windows, macOS and Linux. - [VS Code Super Mermaid](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/super-mermaid): Super Mermaid is a VS Code extension for beautiful Mermaid diagrams out of the box: auto-colored live preview, mouse pan & zoom, high-res PNG / SVG export, 21 templates and multiple themes. Free and open source (MIT). - [React Super Mermaid](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/react-super-mermaid): react-super-mermaid is an open-source React component library: render beautiful Mermaid diagrams with a single , with built-in colorful / sketch themes, pan & zoom, in-diagram search, and high-res SVG / PNG export. Lightweight, SSR-safe, fully typed. 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No sign-up, nothing uploaded to a server, and mermaid.live share links work as-is. - [React Intl Phone Number](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/react-intl-phone-number): react-intl-phone-number is an open-source React component: framework-agnostic and antd-free, with E.164 in/out, a searchable flag / country-code dropdown, configurable validation levels (strict / mobile-strict / loose), themeable CSS, and i18n — phone logic powered by google-libphonenumber. Lightweight and fully typed. Free and open source (MIT). - [Uptime Kuma Cluster](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/uptime-kuma-cluster): Turn single-node Uptime Kuma into a highly available cluster: OpenResty + Lua smart load balancing, shared MariaDB state, health checks and automatic failover, plus cluster-management REST APIs. One Docker Compose command to start. Free and open source (MIT). - [AI Podcast Cut](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/ai-podcast-cut): Drop in a recording and it removes fillers and stutters, levels loudness segment by segment, and sends a second agent to review every cut. Cut points snap to word boundaries and zero crossings, every splice gets a fade, and sentence-end breaths are preserved. Desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. MIT licensed; the Windows installer bundles ffmpeg. - [AI Video Cut](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/ai-video-cut): Pick something in your video: type it (face, license plate, phone screen, logo), click points or drag a box, or let Claude Code / Codex pick it. AI Video Cut tracks it frame by frame, then mosaics or blurs it, recolors it, pins stickers and text to it, swaps a screen or poster for your own image or video, or removes it using background that other frames actually captured. Plus sequence editing, local captions and an AI assistant. Free, open-source (MIT) Windows desktop app (macOS / Linux experimental) that runs locally, nothing uploaded. - [open-pos restaurant POS](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/open-pos): One computer and one receipt printer is enough to open the shop. Your data lives on your own disk, no subscription, no lock-in, MIT licensed. Money is integer New Taiwan dollars with tax split by the statutory formula, so sales + tax always equals the total. Printing goes straight over ESC/POS on TCP 9100, with no vendor driver. Tauri + Rust + SQLite desktop app, v1.0 in development. - [.NET e-commerce API template](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/dotnet-ecommerce-api): An e-commerce backend API template built on .NET 10: Controller → Service → Repository layering, Autofac convention-based registration, SqlSugar for MySQL / MariaDB and SQL Server, Redis cache and message queue, Hangfire jobs, JWT auth, and an extensible payment provider module (ECPay, Newebpay). Apache 2.0. - [Open Token Monitor team AI usage](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/open-token-monitor): Collect token usage and equivalent cost from every employee's AI coding tools into a hub you host yourself: PostgreSQL, org roster, dashboards compared by company and department, and a reports API. Electron and Rust/Tauri clients upload every 30 minutes. MIT licensed, one Docker command. ### Daily podcasts - [Mark's Tech Insights — Daily AI News](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/category/tech-news): Daily curated AI and tech trends. 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