NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After two consecutive days of negative test results, a member of the Tennessee Titans' team staff tested positive for the coronavirus Sunday morning.

"This morning we learned that a staff member tested positive. We have temporarily closed our facility and are in communication with the league on the next steps," a team statement said.

The Titans have now received a total of 24 positive test results dating back to Sept. 24. Sunday's positive test result by a staff member marks the 11th time a team personnel member has done so. A total of 13 players tested positive over that span.

The Titans removed offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson and defensive back Greg Mabin from the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday and returned to their facility on Saturday for the first time since Sep. 29.

"I, along with the players and staff, would like to tell you how excited we are to be back in the building to continue our prep for Buffalo," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Saturday.

Tennessee's game against the Buffalo Bills was moved from Sunday to Tuesday. That game is now in jeopardy.

Another day, another record for Rafael Nadal.

On Sunday, the 34-year-old three-time defending French Open champion will compete in his 13th final at Roland Garros, taking sole possession of the record for most appearances in a final at one major. Nadal, ranked and seeded No. 2 in Paris, had been tied with Roger Federer, who has played in 12 Wimbledon finals. But where Federer is 8-4 in those finals, Nadal is a perfect 12-0 at Roland Garros.

Across the net: Novak Djokovic, 33, ranked No. 1 and playing in his fifth final on the red dirt in Paris. He has won only once, thanks mostly to Nadal's proficiency, but Djokovic has been the most successful male player for almost a decade. He enters this match with a 36-1 record in 2020, the lone loss a mid-match default issued at the US Open.

Nadal leads the series at Roland Garros 6-1. Djokovic crafted that lone win the last time they met in Court Philippe Chatrier in the 2015 quarterfinals. Here are five key questions about the upcoming match.

What does Nadal need to do to win?

Nadal could start by remembering what he did against Diego Schwartzman in a semifinal match that appeared to be a land mine in his path only to turn into a triumph -- and a handy blueprint for the final.

Like Djokovic, Schwartzman is a superb defender playing some of the best tennis of his career -- as demonstrated by his stunning win over Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. That win brought Nadal's inadequate, post-COVID-19 lockdown preparation for the French Open to a grinding halt after just three matches.

But Nadal got a great infusion of confidence from his bounce-back straight-sets win over Schwartzman. The overpowering win, coupled with Nadal's five previous matches in Paris -- all straight-sets wins -- flipped the script on the "seasoning" issue.

Nadal is not rusty; he's fresh.

Against Schwartzman, Nadal put 69% of his first serves into play, a critical component in taking control of the rallies. He will need to do that against Djokovic.

Nadal also returned aggressively and won an excellent 62% of Schwartzman's second-serve points -- far better than the 48% he logged in their Rome match. Djokovic has a bigger serve than Schwartzman, but the slow conditions suggest that Nadal might be able to return it with intent.

Nadal made one significant adjustment due to the lower bounce of the ball in Paris these weeks. He played from much closer to the baseline than usual on the clay and compensated for the territory he gave up by taking angles away.

"Rafa got good results hitting down the middle and throwing in some high, looping balls out of nowhere in the semis," ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert said. "It's supposed to be chilly [around 57 degrees Fahrenheit] on Sunday, so those high, looping balls could be crucial."

What does Djokovic need to do to win?

First and foremost, Djokovic can't afford any mental lapses.

"He [Djokovic] goes through these periods when he looks totally out of it," ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said. "I don't know if it's real or just in his head. Then he needs to get himself going again "

One of those lapses enabled Stefanos Tsitsipas to fend off a third-set match point and force Djokovic to go the five-set distance in the semis.

Djokovic and Nadal run neck and neck as the top two returners in the men's game, but the quality of Djokovic's return will be more important because Nadal is the more aggressive player. Nadal gets great mileage out of the "serve-plus-one" tactic, whereby he serves, steps well into the court and wallops a massive forehand off the return. At his best, Djokovic could keep Nadal from executing that strategy.

As well, Djokovic has turned the drop shot into a go-to stroke on the slow, damp, low-bounce clay. It has worked so well for him that he said a few days ago, "I love the drop shot, but maybe too much."

Nadal has excellent speed, but if Djokovic can maneuver him off the court with consistency, the dropper could be the money shot in the match.

How is this different from their previous matches?

The main thing for Djokovic is that he knows he can beat Nadal on clay at Roland Garros, a claim that can be made by only one other man, Robin Soderling (Nadal is 99-2 for his career at Roland Garros). Djokovic pulled off that feat in the quarterfinals in 2015. Oddly, it's the last time they met in Paris.

That one, like most of their six previous matches all won by Nadal, was played in early June, usually under conditions that enabled Nadal to pound his way through Djokovic's best in-game defenses. As ESPN analyst Jason Goodall put it, "Nadal [typically] likes to dictate play and dominate points, forcing opponents into errors or force them to take too many undue risks."

Djokovic's solution to that in 2015 was to use all the tools at his disposal instead of falling into endless rallying.

"I tried to mix up the pace," he said after that landmark win. "I got to the net, [hit] drop shots, high balls, fast balls, always something different."

Although Djokovic said he would take inspiration from that match and implement some of the strategies that proved successful, the conditions might not offer him as many options. Besides, Nadal is a much different player than in that last meeting. In 2015, Nadal was in the midst of the only serious slump of his career. He was down to No. 7 in the rankings at Roland Garros (hence the quarterfinal meeting), and would ultimately fall as far as No. 10.

Look for both men to play with more variety and perhaps more risk than usual. Both have more weapons and tactics at their disposal now than in many of their previous battles. They are older, with mature games and a veteran grasp of tactics.

Whom do the conditions favor?

Before the tournament started, the challenges the cool, wet conditions would pose for Nadal were a main topic of conversation. Yet here we are, with Nadal having powered through the tournament without losing a set.

No, the ball doesn't bounce as high as it does on sunny, dry days. But the strategies and tactics that worked for Nadal in the full sunshine of June work in October as well. He puts unrelenting pressure on an opponent, wears down resistance and knows how to win crucial points. His aggressive mindset is supported by a foundation of excellent defense.

Djokovic might find the lower bounce to his taste, but the slowness of the court will make it more difficult for him to execute those sometimes devastating transitions from defense to offense that have become something of a trademark for him on faster courts. So unless Djokovic can find a way to disrupt the rhythm of rallies, the match is destined to be dominated by the long, punishing rallies that are so emblematic of clay-court tennis.

"I don't care [about the conditions]," McEnroe said. "Rafa is still the greatest clay-court player of all time."

Who has the mental edge?

Nadal trails Federer by just one Grand Slam singles title (20-19) on the all-time list for men. He has done a great job keeping the theme in the background. For years now, Nadal has consistently and credibly said that he's not hunting the record, although he won't complain if it falls in his lap.

In stark contrast, Djokovic has repeatedly announced his intention to shatter that record, among others. He has put himself under a lot more pressure to perform, and that could have an impact Sunday because this could be a pivotal moment in the great chase.

Djokovic has 17 major titles, and he's still the youngest of the Big Three. But he's at an age now when the titles become harder to lock down and the body is less resilient. Djokovic also knows he squandered an excellent opportunity when he was defaulted during his fourth-round US Open match.

The thoughtless action that resulted in Djokovic's default (he smacked a ball in anger after losing a point and inadvertently struck a line judge) has been his most egregious display of emotion, but he has indulged in a few others. They suggest impatience and a slight lack of self-control. It's enough, though, to bend a W into an L.

"Will Djokovic get frustrated with something or someone?" Goodall asked. "That can happen, and when it does he can very quickly find a very dark place mentally."

Nadal, by contrast, is legendary for treating every point as if it were an entire match in and of itself. The real reason he takes so long between points might be that he's wiping the slate clean. That kind of self-discipline and emotional consistency gives Nadal an edge in the mental game and leaves Djokovic with yet one more factor to reckon with on Sunday.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Broncos-Patriots game that had been rescheduled to Monday is now being moved to next Sunday after the Patriots had one new positive test for the coronavirus Sunday morning, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Patriots were to be on bye in Week 6, while the Broncos were supposed to play Miami. The Dolphins-Broncos game is being rescheduled.

The NFL shut down the Patriots facility Sunday morning for the third time in 10 days, sources told ESPN's Schefter and Field Yates.

The Patriots had reopened their facility and held a practice Saturday after having been closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Quarterback Cam Newton, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and practice squad defensive tackle Bill Murray are currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Newton's positive test came back on Saturday, Oct. 3, which was when the Patriots were scheduled to travel to Kansas City for a game against the Chiefs the next day. But the facility was shut down, and players and coaches were sent home.

The game was moved to Monday, and the Patriots traveled that morning. Veteran cornerback Jason McCourty questioned whether the NFL was putting the team's safety first by not postponing the game.

Gilmore played every snap in a 26-10 loss to the Chiefs, and he tested positive for COVID-19 two days later. He was part of a group of close contacts to Newton who flew on a separate plane to Kansas City. Murray, the practice squad defensive tackle, had been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list the day before.

The Patriots had three straight days of negative tests before Sunday's shutdown.

THE CLOSET INSIDE Buzz Williams' office at the Bradley Center was, at most, 5 feet deep. He thinks it had a chair or a small couch inside. He's pretty sure there was a light. But he's not sure it would've mattered to Jimmy Butler either way.

Butler just needed a space to focus before games. To shut the world out. Minimize distractions. Get his mind right. So after shootaround, until the game, every game in his three seasons at Marquette, that's where Butler would go.

"I never eat the day of a game," Williams said. "So after shootaround I go in my office, watch tape, go over my charts. Just normal coach stuff.

"One day Jimmy comes in and says, 'Hey, Coach, you think I can sit in here?' He's standing at my door, and he's pointing at the closet. And I was like, 'Yeah, you can sit in there. That's the closet. Why don't you go sit in the locker room?'

"He was like, 'No. If it's OK, I'm going to go sit in here.'"

Williams and Butler didn't know each other well at that point, but they had the unspoken bond of two men who'd come from small towns in Texas and succeeded despite long odds. So Williams just kind of nodded at Butler and let him sit in the closet for as long as he wanted.

"I just told the managers to take all the stuff that was in there so he could have his little place," Williams said.

Williams, who is now the coach at Texas A&M, has been thinking about that little storage closet a lot as he's watched Butler lead the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals and turn in some all-time great Finals performances against LeBron James and the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers.

Time and time again, Butler has dug down to some deep well of competitiveness to keep the Heat alive. In Game 5 on Friday night, he seemed downright exhausted during a 47-minute masterpiece in which he went toe-to-toe with a championship-minded James in the fourth quarter, finishing with 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals as Miami extended the series to a sixth game on Sunday with a 111-108 victory.

"His will to win is remarkable," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. "To do that in 47-plus minutes and take the challenge on at the other end -- every young player coming into this league should study footage on Jimmy Butler."

With each great performance, Spoelstra and Butler's Heat teammates get asked where that competitiveness comes from. How can a man who was so exhausted that he had to rest on the basketball stanchion to catch his breath after his last drive to the basket that resulted in two free throws, find the energy to hit those free throws and play defense on the next, decisive possession?

Where is that energy coming from? Where is that willpower coming from after nearly four months away from home and family, carrying this underdog Heat team throughout the gauntlet of the NBA bubble that has felled so many other superstars and title contenders?

Each of them tries to come up with an explanation.

Williams is thinking about the closet.

"People are talking about the bubble. He ain't worried about that bubble," Williams said. "He thinks it's perfect. You mean I don't have to get on a plane? You mean I don't have to pack up my stuff and go to a different hotel room? You mean we're playing in the same gym every day? You mean I'm staying in the same bed every night?

"Oh, he's right where he wants to be. He'd play every day for the rest of his career in a bubble."

MUCH HAS BEEN made these past couple of months about the coffee shop Butler has operated out of his hotel room on the NBA campus in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

It's a delightful story, and it goes well with the delightful story of the plucky Heat, a group of overachievers who love basketball and one another's company.

But the coffee shop is something of a front for Butler's real operation -- which is a total, maniacal dedication to his craft.

Butler spent the four-month hiatus in San Diego working out with his trainer, James Scott; his younger cousin, Marqueese Grayson; and a fifth-year senior at the University of Michigan whom he's befriended, Mike Smith.

His house was much nicer than the closet at Marquette, but the concept was the same.

"Everybody was asking about how our life has changed since we've been on quarantine or social distancing," Scott said. "And we're like, actually it's pretty much the same as it would be anyways. That's kind of the bubble for Jimmy. He's just there to work, and he doesn't really have any distractions around him.

"We work out at 4 a.m. every day. If you're at his house, and he's waking up at 3-something to work out, you're working out. Nobody gets by with a free pass. You're going to get up, and you're going to work."

For Smith, it is a dream to work out alongside Butler. Although the hours take some getting used to.

"I love playing my video games," Smith said. "But I remember the first summer I went with him, he said, 'Mike, 3 a.m. comes around real quick,' and I was like, 'Haha, yeah.' I'm laughing at him like, 'Yeah, I'll be fine.'

"Next thing you know, I'm up until 12 playing my video game with all my friends, and then he's coming in my room, waking me up at 3 a.m.

"I got up, and then I started figuring out that I have to go to sleep a lot earlier."

The early-morning wake-up and workout might seem like theater. But Butler and Scott believe it serves an important purpose. There's a mental toughness gained from disciplining yourself like that. An edge on your competitors. A self-confidence that you can do more than everybody else, because you have done more than everybody else.

"We don't go out," Smith said. "We're here to get better. That's what [Butler] always preaches. You can have fun later. When he retires and everything is done, he can do all that. But right now, it's time to work."

Scott tries to vary their workouts, to keep things fresh. Last offseason, they did their training camp in London, just for a change of scenery. But the work was the same. They run up hills or sand dunes. They lift weights or heavy ropes. They play volleyball or soccer. And then there's Monster Ball, which is exactly as brutal as it sounds.

"It's a 10-pound medicine ball, and you're throwing it back and forth over the volleyball net," Scott said. "Those games aren't, 'Let's go out and throw the ball around and get a workout in.' No, you better bring it. I don't care who you are, whoever's out there is getting murdered."

Butler is undefeated at Monster Ball, and that includes games where they'll play 2-on-1, with Butler as the 1.

"I don't like to boost Jimmy's ego too much, in anything that we do," Scott said. "But you want to talk about competitiveness? That's where you see it."

TYLER HERRO IS the only one of Butler's Heat teammates who has experienced Monster Ball and all the other brutal offseason workouts. But they all seem to sense it, and draw inspiration from it.

"He obviously emptied the tank," Heat forward Duncan Robinson said after Butler's virtuoso performance in Game 5. "He does whatever it takes to win, and we all just try to follow suit."

Center Bam Adebayo, who is still nursing a neck and shoulder injury, almost felt badly he didn't do more to help Butler carry the load.

"My whole mindset is I have to be better for Jimmy and for my team," Adebayo said.

This, more than anything, is why Butler wanted to play for the Heat. This group of teammates, this hard-nosed culture. This was a place that would appreciate him for who he is, and the way he is.

"Everybody is going to have their own opinion [about me]," Butler said before the Finals. "Nobody is in the locker room. Nobody is at the practices. It's all 'he said, she said' to a point. So, nobody really knows what's really going on. I don't explain anything detail for detail. So, I just take being a bad guy. I like it that way. It doesn't bother me."

That hasn't always gone over well for him with other teams. But Butler always felt, or at least hoped, he'd find a place and a team where it would.

"There's no fluff in Jimmy," Williams said. "That's how I coached him. And that's what he wanted."

Williams was 33 when he first got the job at Marquette, and was doing what he could to prove himself. Butler was an unheralded junior college student who was so happy a major Division I school offered him a scholarship that he verbally accepted on the spot and faxed his letter of intent from the nearest McDonald's.

"The edge that I had of wanting to prove that I could do it was very similar to the edge that he had," Williams said. "So I could say literally anything to him at any time, in any tone of voice, and he would respond immediately.

"That edge has been a separator relative to where he was and where he is now. And if you can't respect that edge, then it's hard for him to respect you. Because he's like, 'Yeah, you must have walked a different road to get here than I did.'"

BUTLER DOESN'T TALK much about the road he's traveled from Tomball, Texas, to the NBA. He also doesn't run from it.

Yes, his mother kicked him out at 13, and he had to sleep on friends' couches throughout high school. Yes, that was difficult. But that's not how he defines himself.

Smith has read about it. But he figures if Butler, 31, wanted to talk about it, he'd bring it up. The only hints he's ever given Smith on how his upbringing shaped him are little comments he'll make about why he likes to train with much younger athletes.

"If you go back to one of the older YouTube videos that he made," Smith said. "He's talking about how he enjoys me and Marqueese around him, because he wants to give us kind of like the life that he never had, in a way."

Sundays are family days, while the group is training. Everyone is encouraged to bring their families out. Scott will bring his wife and two young sons to the beach. They'll have dinners together and play board games or cards.

When you grow up without much of a family life, you tend to create your own later. Or join one, like the Heat.

"We really do enjoy being around one another," Butler said last week. "We really do care about each other. ... I think we care enough to be able to tell each other the truth when somebody is not doing what they're supposed to be doing, knowing that we're around each other so much, ain't nobody going to tell nobody no lie."

He still texts with Williams every few days. And when Williams hosted a Marquette reunion a few years ago, he and current Heat teammate Jae Crowder attended.

Last summer when Butler signed his five-year, $142 million contract with Miami, he asked Williams to attend his introductory news conference, and he did.

The next morning, Williams sent Butler a text.

"It was probably 4 in the morning," Williams said. "But I was already in the weight room, texting him, 'Man, if I was as talented as you, I would sleep in. You're a max contract guy, and I'm still hungry.'"

Williams was pretty sure how Butler would respond. The question was, when would he respond?

"He immediately texts back, 'Coach, what's up? Good morning,'" Williams said, laughing at the memory. "Like, of course he was already up and going."

Houston Astros lefty Framber Valdez will start Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, while Lance McCullers will start Game 2.

"I feel really proud and really thankful for the opportunity this year," Valdez told reporters on Saturday. "It means a lot to me for the manager to show that much confidence in me. I've demonstrated they can have that confidence in me with the effort I put forth this season. I'm super thankful for the moment and super happy to be here."

In two postseason starts, the 26-year-old Valdez have given up 2 runs on seven hits in 12 innings with 9 strikeouts and 2 walks. During the regular season, he was 5-3 with a 3.57 ERA and 76 strikeouts.

He has thrown at least seven innings in seven of his 13 outings this season, including the playoffs.

Blake Snell is starting Game 1 for the Rays in the best-of-seven series.

McCullers, who missed all of last season after having Tommy John surgery, is getting the nod for Game 2 over Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy. He went 3-3 with a 3.93 ERA and 5 strikeouts this season.

"We need to make sure we prioritize flexibility and being reactive to the game decisions," Astros general manager James Click told reporters Saturday. "I think we have done a very good job over the past six games of being aggressive about putting our best pitchers in the biggest spots and making sure we line up the leverage of the situation with the guys we want in those spots. If we continue to do that, I think we'll have a lot of success."

Even though only one division series among the MLB quartet of matchups went the full five-game distance, we're back in action after a one-day break with the American League Championship Series of the 2020 MLB playoffs getting into gear, pitting the defending AL champs from Houston against the top-seeded team from Tampa Bay. It's the last break the two teams will get until one of them is eliminated, and one is headed to the World Series.

Key links: Power Rankings | Predictions | Schedule, bracket | Playoff Baseball Classic

What's on tap

All times Eastern; all series best-of-seven played at neutral sites

Game 1: No. 6 Houston Astros (Framber Valdez) vs. No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays (Blake Snell), 7:37 p.m. in San Diego

It's easy to look at both championship series and fixate on the possibility of seven games and seven days, and look at each matchup as it were overlaid with a seven-day grid. That's not how the postseason works though, and even in a compressed format such as this, clubs will worry about winning the game at hand, first and foremost.

Still, it will be interesting to see how much rope the manager will give their respective starters in Game 1. Houston's Valdez has thrown at least seven innings in seven of his 13 outings this season, including the playoffs, and the Rays' Snell has not completed as many as six innings in a single start this season. The Rays have always been proactive at getting to the bullpen early and often, and with former Tampa Bay exec James Click now running the front office of the Astros, Houston has taken on more of that Rays-like, pitch-to-the-leverage identity.

Still, when you consider the possible challenge of seven games in seven days, and add the fact the Rays will have had only one day off after clinching their ALDS series against the Yankees on Friday, the ability of one or both starters to work relatively deep could help set up either team for the rest of the series. -- Bradford Doolittle

Updated odds for every series

Projections courtesy of ESPN's Bradford Doolittle.

Astros-Rays: Rays 63.4% to advance
Braves-Dodgers: Dodgers 71.6% to advance

Running World Series odds

NL: Dodgers 54.8%, Braves 15.0%
AL: Rays 21.3%, Astros 8.9%

Hot take of the day

Heel, noun, \ˈhēl \: In professional wrestling, it is defined by Merriam-Webster as a combatant who takes the role of the unsympathetic antagonist or adversary. And don't the Astros know it. There is nothing more appropriate for this bizarre, shortest and longest of seasons than seeing the Astros back in the ALCS. The Rays and their exceptional stable of pitchers should have their hands full with a club continuing to try to prove that it could have won in 2017 without cheating. Yet, we'll never know.

Or will we? Though an underdog against the pitching-rich Rays, the Astros, inconsistent all season, seem to be peaking at the right time. MLB, and those who worry about TV ratings, are salivating at the possibility of an Astros-Dodgers rematch. There is no way Houston can be more of a hated villain, even making every "face" a hero. Even the blue-blood, big-budget, second-highest prorated payroll in baseball, the Dodgers. -- Marly Rivera

Stat of the day

As David Schoenfield brought up in our review of what we've learned from this postseason, teams that outhomer their opponents in this year's postseason games are 22-1 so far. So when the Rays and Astros try trading fence-busters and moon shots, keep that in mind.

About last (Friday) night ...

The Rays put away the Yankees in Game 5 of their division series, powered by Mike Brosseau's eighth-inning solo shot off New York closer Aroldis Chapman to provide Tampa Bay with its decisive lead in a 2-1 victory, leaving New York with plenty of time to consider how to answer their key offseason questions. And then the Rays went to town enjoying their victory.

Social media post of the day

LMFAO LETS GO #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/DSqLnVIklj

— Manuel Mar? (@Tuataggy) October 10, 2020

Best moment of the MLB playoffs to date

The stage was set for another Fernando Tatis Jr. moment, but Cody Bellinger snatched it away. Bellinger's home run robbery, plucking what would have been a go-ahead shot by Tatis in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NLDS, kept the Padres at bay -- barely -- and will take its place in Dodgers lore, particularly if L.A. wins it all.

Cody Bellinger. Instant classic. pic.twitter.com/TPRnAFFuMo

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2020

The running MLB playoffs MVP

The Astros' offensive juggernaut has been in high gear, and the leader of the pack is Carlos Correa, who hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the division series clincher against the A's. Through six games, the numbers are staggering: 10-for-20, four home runs, 12 RBIs, a 1.715 OPS. Correa's 12 RBIs are tied for the second-most ever in a team's first six postseason games, and his 11 RBIs against Oakland are tied for the most by a shortstop in any series in postseason history (matching Boston's Nomar Garciaparra, 1998 LDS vs. Cleveland).

We're down to the final four teams in the playoffs and all four have something to prove as we wind down this Major League Baseball season:

• The Los Angeles Dodgers have won eight consecutive National League West Division titles, but they still seek the World Series championship that has eluded them since 1988 -- it has been 13 postseason trips without a title. "It took me six months to recover from last year," manager Dave Roberts said at the start of the postseason. They were the favorite to win it all in March, the favorite in July and remain the favorite.

• This is the Atlanta Braves' 16th trip to the playoffs since winning their lone World Series in 1995, and they believe they should have been in this position last year after losing to the Cardinals. "We all know baseball is a funny game, and they made us wait one more year," said likely National League MVP Freddie Freeman. "That's OK with us. We just know we have a really good team right now."

• The Tampa Bay Rays are the small-market team with the small-market payroll trying to do big things. This is their sixth playoff appearance since 2008, but it's the first time they have reached the American League Championship Series since that first postseason trip that ended in a World Series defeat. "We're a fun team. We play the game right; we pitch very well. They're gonna see a lot of high velo on the radar gun, and they're gonna see a lot of good defense and timely hitting," division series hero Mike Brosseau said in explaining the Rays' success in 2020.

• The Houston Astros, taking on the role of the heel after the offseason cheating scandal that surfaced and stained their 2017 World Series championship, are trying to reach the World Series for the third time in four seasons after finishing under .500 in the regular season. "We know what it feels like, so we want to be able to have that feeling once again," Carlos Correa said after beating the A's. "We're one step closer."

We polled our ESPN baseball writers to re-rank the four teams heading into the league championship series. Here is a quick capsule of where each team stands and then some thoughts and keys to watch in both series.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Strengths: Lineup depth, power, starting pitching, overall pitching depth, defense
Weakness: Closer

Look, we know how good the Dodgers are after they went 43-17 in the regular season and now 5-0 in the playoffs. Yes, they caught a couple of breaks so far, as the Brewers were without two of their top four pitchers and the Padres were able to get only one inning from their top two starters. The obvious concern is Kenley Jansen. His velocity is down and he nearly blew a 6-3 lead in Game 2 against the Padres and was pulled after allowing two runs, with Joe Kelly finally getting the save. Dave Roberts knows he has to figure this out.

"There's a threading of the needle and ... I've been very transparent and honest with Kenley and he's just disappointed that he can't figure it out," the manager said on the Mike Golic Jr. and Chiney Ogwumike ESPN radio show on Friday. "We have a lot of people around him that are going to get important outs. I think people get caught up in the title or role of closer. I think when you're talking about the postseason, every out is important. So, whenever I decide to deploy Kenley to get outs, I expect him to be ready and get those outs, and whoever finishes the game, I expect to finish the game. It's going to take all of us to win eight more games."

Sounds as though Roberts is keeping his options open. That could mean Kelly, although he walked the first two batters he faced against the Padres before finally getting the third out. That could mean Dustin May firing 100 mph sinkers in the ninth inning rather than the first inning. That could mean Blake Treinen, who has 3⅓ scoreless innings in the postseason, although he allowed nine runs in 10⅔ innings in September.

2. Tampa Bay Rays

Strengths: Pitching depth, bullpen versatility, power, outfield defense, speed
Weakness: Strikeouts, hitting for average

The Rays have plenty of power pitching, beginning with starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Charlie Morton, and then going to the three big arms in the bullpen: Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo and Peter Fairbanks. We already know manager Kevin Cash will deploy those top three relievers at any time, much like he did in the regular season when 12 different relievers picked up saves. Anderson might be the most unhittable reliever in the game right now (although Aaron Judge did touch him for a cheap 340-foot home run in Game 5 of the AL Division Series) and will enter at any time in a big moment. In fact, Fairbanks has the Rays' two postseason saves after not getting one in the regular season, and Castillo pitched the final two innings to get the win in the clincher over the Yankees. The Rays' plan is to get the ball to those three relievers with the lead.

3. Atlanta Braves

Strengths: Offense, power, bullpen depth, top of the rotation
Weakness: Starting pitching depth, bench

The Dodgers and Braves finished 1-2 in the majors in runs, but the pitching stole the show as the Braves swept the Reds and then the Marlins, tossing four shutouts in five games. So it sounds a little weird talking about the starting pitching as the team's potential weakness, but Max Fried and Ian Anderson started four of the five games, and after that things get less sure. Kyle Wright solidified his spot as the No. 3 starter with six scoreless innings against the Marlins, recovering from a shaky start to settle down.

Still, the Dodgers' offense is a big step above the Reds' and Marlins', and the Braves have no good options for the fourth and fifth spots. What they do have, however, is a very deep and impressive bullpen that has allowed one run in 20 innings in the playoffs with a .139 opponents' batting average. No matter who ends up starting Games 4 and 5, manager Brian Snitker will look to the bullpen to carry the load.

4. Houston Astros

Strengths: Lineup heating up, they put the ball in play, starting pitching depth
Weakness: Inexperienced bullpen, bench

After struggling in the regular season on offense -- the Astros fell from first in the majors in wOBA to 18th -- the veteran lineup put it together against Oakland, hitting .322/.388/.594 with 12 home runs in the four-game series. The Astros have been here before, of course, now playing in their fourth straight LCS, the first team to do that since the 1998-2001 Yankees. It's also a rematch of last year's division series, which the Astros won in five games -- but with the departed Gerrit Cole winning two of those games. The Astros have five solid starting pitchers and manager Dusty Baker used a couple of them in relief in the first two rounds, but that will be more difficult to pull off in this round.

That will put pressure on the Astros' offense to put up some crooked numbers. They certainly believe the 29-31 regular-season record and subpar offensive numbers were an aberration. "I've played with these guys in my whole career," George Springer said after the Oakland series. "I know what they can do. I've seen it happen day in and day out for six-plus years. And I believe in them. Yeah, sure, we had a little bit of a harder year this year. And I think we expect to play well all the time. And when you don't, it is a little bit hard. But this is a team that believes in one another, sticks together and really, really tries to enjoy the day."

OK, some key elements and storylines to watch:

1. No off days

This will be a huge, huge factor, with the potential of seven games in seven days compared to the usual format of seven games over nine days. In the first two rounds, with the urgency of victory acute in short series, managers tended to go heavy with the bullpens. Check out the average innings pitched for starters in the postseason:

2020: 4.4
2019: 5.1
2018: 4.7
2017: 4.7
2016: 5.1

OK, it's lower, but not THAT much lower. Quick hooks have been a pattern for a long time now. Still, we're seeing a higher percentage of innings coming from relievers than ever before. What made the first two rounds feel so unique, however, was not just the quick trigger on the starters, but the number of bullpen games and openers.

It will be interesting to see if managers can be as creative with no off days. They will have to get a little more from their starters or dig deeper into their bullpens -- although the Dodgers, Braves and Rays all have deep bullpens -- as you won't want to run your best relievers out there seven days in a row. Here is the dilemma each skipper faces:

Dodgers: Does Roberts just stick to a straight five-man rotation and trust a bullpen that had a 2.74 ERA in the regular season, or does he use May as a potential ninth-inning weapon? One option is that May could be used in relief in Games 1 and 2 and then start Game 5 as an opener as part of a bullpen game.

Rays: Since Glasnow started Game 5 against the Yankees on Friday, his next start on regular rest wouldn't be until Game 3 -- which means he might get only one start in the series, unless he comes back for Game 7 on short rest. Against the right-handed-heavy lineup of the Astros, look for the Rays to use an opener in Games 4 and 5, with lefty starters Ryan Yarbrough and Josh Fleming serving as the "bulk" guys.

Braves: Who starts Games 4 and 5? Those could also end up being bullpen games. The Braves had seven relievers with a sub-3.00 ERA regular season (small-sample-size alert), plus Will Smith, one of their setup guys. Look for Tyler Matzek to be a key reliever here. Fellow reliever Darren O'Day calls him the "Death Star" because he's the Braves' secret weapon who destroys everything out of the pen. He fanned 43 in 29 innings and allowed just one home run and has eight K's in 3⅓ innings in the playoffs.

Astros: Baker used Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier out of the pen, but Valdez is now the Game 1 starter. The Astros have the weakest bullpen of the four teams, so if he wants to keep Javier in relief, that would mean going with Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr. and the Game 3 starter (probably Zack Greinke) on short rest if the series goes long.

2. Home runs ... or home runs

There have been 93 home runs this postseason in 33 games -- almost three per game. That rate of 1.41 per team per exceeds the regular-season average of 1.28. So if you feel as though you're seeing a lot of home runs, you are. (Teams averaged 1.28 home runs per game last postseason.)

How important is hitting home runs? The team hitting more home runs in a game this postseason is 22-1. Last year, the team with more home runs went 27-6. When you see those numbers, and with the universal designated hitter now in play, it's not surprising to learn there have been ZERO sacrifice bunts this postseason. Of course, the sacrifice bunt has been on its way to oblivion. Average sacrifices per game in the postseason:

1970s: 0.44
1980s: 0.41
1990s: 0.40
2000s: 0.42
2010-2014: 0.34
2015-2018: 0.21
2019: 0.18

Of the 13 successful sacrifice bunts last postseason, seven came from pitchers and five of the six position-player sacrifices came from the World Series champion Nationals. Anyway, we can also count the number of hit-and-run plays on one hand, and there have been just 23 stolen bases, so if you're thinking you're watching a one-dimensional power baseball, you are correct. Indeed, the ratio of home runs to stolen bases in the postseason has predictably declined:

2020: 93 to 23 (4.04)
2015: 91 to 46 (1.98)
2010: 58 to 41 (1.41)
2005: 60 to 37 (1.62)
2000: 45 to 34 (1.32)
1995: 79 to 59 (1.34)
1990: 14 to 31 (0.45)

This doesn't mean manufacturing runs with singles and doubles and going from first to third on base hits (the Rays do that better than the other teams) isn't important, but it is home runs that are necessary. Hit 'em and hope your pitchers prevent 'em.

3. Braves' offense vs. Dodgers' offense

The Dodgers led the majors with 5.82 runs per game, while the Braves were second at 5.80. Freeman, Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr. ranked 2-3-6 in the majors in wOBA. Corey Seager (17th) and Mookie Betts (21st) led the balanced Dodgers attack, although catcher Will Smith outpaced both of them but lacked enough qualifying appearances. Smith is also coming off a five-hit game in the clincher against San Diego. The teams also ranked 1-2 in home runs (Dodgers 118, Braves 103), making this just the fifth playoff series with teams that ranked 1-2 in both runs and home runs:

1926 World Series: Cardinals vs. Yankees
1982 ALCS: Brewers vs. Angels
2017 ALCS: Astros vs. Yankees
2019 ALDS: Yankees vs. Twins

One difference between the two lineups: The Dodgers are very patient in seeking out their pitch, while the Braves are much more aggressive. The Dodgers had the second-lowest chase rate in the majors, but the Braves ranked just 18th. The Braves swung at the first pitch 35.5% of the time -- highest in the majors. Despite the more patient approach, the Dodgers were actually fairly aggressive on the first pitch as well, swinging 30.4% of the time (eighth highest).

"I just think that in the first two series you saw what we're capable of as far as controlling the strike zone," Roberts said. "And I think if you look back at postseasons in the past, we haven't done that very well."

4. Rays' strikeout pitchers vs. Astros' contact hitters

This will be supremely fun to watch. Rays pitchers have the highest strikeout rate of the remaining four teams, but, even as they struggled in the regular season, the Astros had the lowest strikeout rate. They put the ball in play, but that can also be a good thing for pitchers -- as long as those balls in play are turned into outs -- since the Astros had the lowest average pitches per plate appearance.

Of special note is that the Astros usually run out six right-handed batters in their lineup, while the Rays are loaded with right-handed pitching out of the bullpen. Those top three guys -- Anderson, Castillo and Fairbanks -- are all right-handed. They can all go more than three outs. Indeed, in Game 5 against the Yankees, the Rays became just the second team to win a nine-inning playoff game with four different pitchers throwing at least two innings. The Astros are going to see a lot of those three relievers in this series.

5. Defense still matters

Even though sometimes it seems as though all we see are home runs and strikeouts, defense remains vital. Just ask Fernando Tatis Jr. about home run robberies or Judge about home run robberies missed. Based on defensive runs saved, the defenses ranked like this in the regular season:

Dodgers: plus-29
Rays: plus-24
Astros: plus-12
Braves: minus-8

By other metrics, the Dodgers don't fare as well. They do have two elite defenders in Betts in right field and Cody Bellinger in center field, but what the Dodgers really do well is positioning. Other teams will often point out how the Dodgers always seems to be in the right place on defense. Indeed, Los Angeles allowed the second-lowest batting average on balls in play at .253 (the MLB average was .292). The Dodgers did shift more than any other team -- 55.8% of the time. The Braves, meanwhile, shifted less often than any other -- just 7.6% of the time.

6. The Andrew Friedman playoffs

One final note. These front offices are all very familiar with each other in some fashion. Friedman, the Dodgers' president of baseball operations, was the Rays' general manager from 2006 through 2014. Current Rays GM Erik Neander worked under Friedman before becoming GM for the 2017 season. Astros first-year GM James Click came over from the Rays, where he worked under both Friedman and Neander. Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos was the Blue Jays' GM from 2010 through 2015 but then worked under Friedman with the Dodgers for two seasons before going to Atlanta. So if you miss bunting, blame Andrew Friedman.

Joe Ansbro can still remember his dad climbing in the car with a lampshade on his head.

The former Scotland centre smiles at the thought of it now. Yet the bizarre image was borne out of paternal worry and genuine fear for his son's wellbeing - a son who just weeks earlier had been carried off a rugby pitch with a broken neck and now had to adjust to life with a halo brace screwed to his head.

Ansbro's tale is quite extraordinary. A talented centre who became the first black man to play Test rugby union for Scotland in 2010, and who would go on to suffer a brutal neck fracture four years later.

Now a teacher at Harrow School, he admits he is defined these days by none of the above, but as "that bloke who headbutted Ally Strokosch when Scotland beat Australia" by his eagle-eyed pupils.

Ansbro can still remember plenty about the afternoon of 24 August 2012. A pre-season match against Munster for London Irish started like any other, but ended in a horrific injury that would cut short his rugby career at the age of 27.

"I didn't think I'd broken my neck," he told the Chris Iwelumo Meets podcast. "I assumed I concussed myself - probably like my 30th concussion. I had a lot pain going down the front of my face. I knew something neuro had happened.

"I was quickly pinned down by all the medical staff for Irish and people in the venue and they kind of did the whole thing on the splint, not moving in that ambulance, waiting outside Cork University Hospital for about two hours. It was a Friday night.

"After about three hours, I'd lost sense of blood flow to the back of my head and it was really uncomfortable. I started to ask to loosen the straps because in my head I was fine. You know, I hadn't broken my neck. It was just a precaution. And then I kind of moved up a bit and I heard a clunk and then I was straight back down."

A week in hospital "staring at a ceiling" followed, but Ansbro insists he always felt confident he'd make a full recovery, even if a question mark remained over his rugby career.

"They put the screws into your skull. And you're kind of like that for three months and you sleep like this. You're upright, you don't lie down any more," he said.

"The day I broke my neck is the day I completed on a flat in the Richmond area and my first bit of furniture was a hospital bed - which in a way was lucky because they're not easy to get hold of."

A move back to his family home followed with dad and his lampshade. It was that kind of support which helped nurture him back to health, and on to the life after rugby that would follow less than a year later.

A 'surreal' Scotland debut

Ansbro says he is still working out his own path, but his journey until this point is some story. Adopted into a white family, a young Ansbro grew up in Dumfries before being schooled in the art of rugby in Lancashire. Soon the call of university at Cambridge followed, but it was the attention of Northampton while on the field that would change the trajectory of his rugby route.

"I was probably about 85 kilograms playing in the centre against a bunch of big lads," he said of a fateful afternoon. "I got to start outside centre and I was unconscious within 30 minutes. But it was an important 30 minutes because obviously it did enough to get Northampton interested."

Four years at Northampton Saints eventually offered a move to London Irish in 2011. By that point, Ansbro had already made history by playing for his country, which he would do on 11 occasions before his time on the field was cruelly cut short.

"I'd watched Scotland play the All Blacks at Murrayfield with my family the week before," he said of the build-up to his debut against South Africa in 2010.

"Six days later, I'm on the pitch up against the world champions. And it was surreal for someone who probably didn't think they were going to play professional rugby, never mind represent Scotland."

In doing so, Ansbro became the first black man to feature in a Test match for Scotland. But was it something he was aware of?

"I was probably more concerned about my accent than the colour of my skin when it came to playing to Scotland," he jokes with an accent not typical of a Dumfriesshire twang.

"I played a lot of rugby in Scotland before as a kid, and it was never brought up then. So in my head, I was just like: 'Let's just acknowledge it, and then just move on.'"

'Ah, I know who you are...'

Life now is very different from the highs of beating South Africa and Australia in a mud-stained Scotland shirt.

A biology teacher at Harrow, 34-year-old Ansbro splits his time with coaching. Rugby is clearly still important to him, but so too is family, and continuing on his unique and unpredictable path. Although, a reminder of the past is never far away.

"I already know how I'm defined. I say I work in a school. I am defined as the bloke who headbutted Ally Strokosch when Scotland beat Australia," he laughs, recalling an over-exuberant celebration during a Scotland triumph in 2012. "Happens every year, a new group of kids and: 'Ah, I know who you are, you're that guy.'

"I've had six years teaching, six years rugby. And in a way I'm still trying to learn.

"But in terms of what's most important to me at the moment, then obviously it's my boys, my family, and I wouldn't want any of that to become problematic. That's my priority, to ensure they have as good a life as I had and they can make decisions and judgments and perhaps speak a bit more fluently about contentious issues than I than I can.

"So yeah, that's certainly that's important to me."

The first episode of the Chris Iwelumo Meets podcast will be available this Wednesday on BBC Sounds.

Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Rolling Report of the 26th game of IPL 2020, between the Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai. Get ready for the likes of Steven Smith, Jofra Archer, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler taking on the likes of David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson and Rashid Khan. You can also follow ball-by-ball commentary of the game here.

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Queensland 6 for 331 (Labuschagne 167, Street 54) lead Tasmania 250 by 81 runs

Marnus Labuschagne picked up his prolific form from the last Australian season with his highest Sheffield Shield score to put Queensland in command against Tasmania as he was well supported by Bryce Street and Matt Renshaw.

Tasmania were left to rue a wasteful morning session where their fielding could not support some challenging pace bowling as Labuschagne was given three lives - including two in one over against Jackson Bird - after Peter Siddle had removed Joe Burns early to claim his first wicket for the state.

Queensland scored at barely more than a run an over during the first part of the morning session, but their early repelling of Tasmania's strong pace attack would bring rewards later and the second two sessions brought 259 runs from 64 overs.

Labuschagne was 12 off 43 balls when the over began against Bird during which he would be spilled twice - both tough chances to second slip and midwicket - and by lunch, when he took himself off for an extra net session, had himself a foundation. His scoring rate continued to pick up during the afternoon and he went to tea on 97, bringing up his century shortly after the interval off 151 balls - his second fifty taking just 51 deliveries.

It was his fifth Shield century but first since March 2018, since when he had made nine other first-class hundreds: five for Glamorgan and four for Australia. He converted into 167 before finally being extracted late in the late by a terrific yorker from Beau Webster in his medium-pace mode.

Street was a vital partner in laying Queensland's strong position as he, too, picked up from last season where he faced more deliveries in the Sheffield Shield than anyone else during a hugely impressive first summer. That doggedness was again on display as he took 87 balls to reach double figures but knew the value of putting miles in the bowlers' legs.

His half-century came from 173 balls before he fell to a Riley Meredith short delivery which he top-edged to long leg and briefly Tasmania threatened to bring themselves back into the contest when Nathan Ellis won an lbw decision against Usman Khawaja. As with several decisions against him last year, Khawaja did not look too impressed.

Renshaw, recast as a middle-order batsman, joined in a stand of 125 with the increasingly expansive Labuschagne which took Queensland into the lead. The breakthrough came against the run of play when Renshaw was run out by a direct hit from Webster at cover - a tight call for the on-field umpire - but despite also seeing the back of Labuschagne, Tasmania still faced conceding a hefty lead.