Avoiding rotten history, in a weird way. Plus: Hugs from MLB's sweetheart

The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.The Giants narrowly avoided unfortunate history … in the weirdest way possible. Plus: We’re grading the pennant races, and an endangered baseball species is back.I’m Grant Brisbee, pinch-hitting for Levi Weaver (returning to your inbox tomorrow) — welcome to The Windup!Brooms (Finally) Out: At long last, Giants sweep a seriesThe last team to go an entire season without sweeping an opponent in a series of two games or longer was the 2022 Washington Nationals, and there have been just eight teams in the expansion era (1969 to present) to do it. Consider that the 2024 White Sox and the 2025 Rockies lost 240 games between them, yet even they swept series. Even the worst te