SI:AM | World Series Preview

Plus, Damian Lillard’s electrifying Bucks debut.

Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney, filling in for Dan Gartland. The Fall Classic starts tonight!

In today’s SI:AM:

⚾ Setting the stage for the World Series

⌚ Dame Time in Milwaukee

🏈 Previewing the NFL trade deadline

Rangers vs. Diamondbacks, an unlikely matchup

Few, if anyone, would have predicted this World Series matchup when the postseason started a month ago. The Rangers had stumbled in the season’s final weekend to give away the NL West title to the Astros, instead sliding them into a matchup with the 99-win Rays in the wild-card series. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks had just barely snuck into the postseason, winning 84 regular-season games and losing their final four games.

Yet here we are, with two surprise teams left standing. What’s in store for this matchup of upstarts?

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Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports

The Diamondbacks have a pair of advantages. First, ace Zac Gallen, who started for the NL in the All-Star Game, gets the ball in Game 1 after manager Torey Lovullo didn’t use him in Game 7 against the Phillies. Gallen had two rough outings against Philadelphia, but won 17 games and struck out 220 hitters in the regular season and was excellent against both the Brewers and Dodgers earlier in the postseason. The other edge is the return to form of star outfielder Corbin Carroll, who Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein wrote about following Game 7. Carroll came into the game just 3-for-23 in the series, but broke out in Game 7 with three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. This Arizona lineup is a lot more intimidating when Carroll’s on his game.

That said, Texas has its share of good vibes on its side after sweeping all four road games against the Astros in a seven-game thriller, including a blowout Game 7 win. Plus, they now get to turn to postseason ace Nathan Eovaldi in Game 1, who has had his share of big World Series moments (such as his epic relief outing for the Red Sox in the 2018 series). And the Rangers’ lineup is raking, with 20 runs scored in its last two games thanks in no small part to monster performances from outfielder Adolis García, who had a grand slam in Game 6 and five RBIs in Game 7.

Considering the performance of both teams away from home during this postseason, the traditional emphasis on safeguarding the home advantage might not carry significance. But with both these teams now just four games away from an unthinkable championship, the pressure is certainly on to start fast. And while this series may not be a Fox executive’s dream matchup, that doesn’t mean it won’t be an exciting matchup for fans to watch. These two teams have won over plenty of fans throughout this upset-filled month, and for good reason.

First pitch is tonight at 8:03 p.m. ET (TV: Fox).

Jonathan Hui/USA TODAY Sports

The best of SI

• Damian Lillard made quite the impression in his Bucks debut, with clutch buckets to seal a fourth-quarter comeback victory, writes Rohan Nadkarni.
• With the NFL trade deadline approaching, a look at some hypothetical moves teams should make that would have a significant impact on the rest of the season.
• Nadkarni breaks down why Kristaps Porziņģis’s debut with the Celtics and how difficult Boston will be to defend this season.
• The Diamondbacks are embracing their underdog role and the many doubters they’ve proved wrong already, writes Stephanie Apstein.
• With the sign-stealing scandal at Michigan ongoing, Michael Rosenberg attacks the myth that college football head coaches know everything that goes on in their programs.
• Also on the sign-stealing front, details on how TCU dodged Michigan’s scheme with some trickery of their own.
• James Harden’s absence from the Sixers’ opener has led to an NBA investigation under its new player participation rules.
• The Bills didn’t quite look like their dominant selves, but Thursday’s performance against the Bucs was a step in the right direction.

The top five…

…things I saw yesterday:

5. Dame’s first clutch bucket with the Bucks.

4. Shams Charania’s panic when Kay Adams stole his phone.

3. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s shirtless cameo in Buffalo.

2. LeBron’s pregame dance moves.

1. Josh Allen’s staring down his defender while scoring.

SIQ

Which fielder recorded the final putout in Game 4 of the World Series on this day in 2004 when the Red Sox clinched their first championship in 86 years?

• Bill Mueller
• David Ortiz
• Johnny Damon
• Doug Mientkiewicz

Yesterday’s SIQ: NFL owners voted Oct. 26, 1993, to add an expansion team in Charlotte. One other candidate that did not have its proposal approved was St. Louis, which had already had which name chosen for its team?

Answer: Stallions. The nonexistent team even had a logo and a color scheme (deep purple and gold), but the league’s owners had concerns about the franchise’s hodgepodge investor group.

Despite the ownership concerns, St. Louis was viewed as a favorite to land a franchise when NFL owners reconvened a month later to add one more expansion team because the city was in the process of building a new domed stadium. St. Louis was passed over in the second vote as well—Jacksonville earned the nod.

St. Louis did get its team, however, when the Rams relocated from Los Angeles, but by welcoming a relocated team rather than an expansion franchise, the Stallions name was relegated to the dustbin of history.