CLEVELAND - The American League Championship Series has reached its hinge game.
After four straight days of alternating results, the Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays meet in Game 5 on Sunday, Oct. 18, with the series tied 2-2. Cleveland dropped Game 4 on Saturday night, 7-3, after a rainout pushed that matchup back a day. Now the winner of Game 5 moves within one victory of the 2026 World Series, where the Milwaukee Brewers are waiting.
The Guardians’ order for Game 5 starts with Steven Kwan in left field and Jose Ramírez at third base. Chase DeLauter bats third in right field, followed by Jo Adell as the designated hitter. Nathaniel Lowe is at first base, Travis Bazzana handles second, Patrick Bailey catches, Petey Halpin is in center field and Brayan Rocchio rounds out the lineup at shortstop.
The Rays counter with Yandy Díaz leading off as the DH. Jonathan Aranda follows at first base, with Ryan Vilade in right field. Junior Caminero hits cleanup at third base, then Chandler Simpson in left, Jonny DeLuca in center, Liam Hicks behind the plate, Ben Williamson at second and Taylor Walls at shortstop.
Cleveland hands the ball to left-hander Parker Messick, who is 0-2 with a 3.09 ERA in three postseason starts. He has logged 11⅔ innings, struck out 14 and already faced Tampa Bay once in this series.
That came in Game 2, when the Rays won at home. Messick went five innings that day and allowed three runs, all unearned, on six hits, two walks and one hit batter while striking out three.
In the regular season, he finished 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 186⅓ innings.
One notable change for Cleveland: Patrick Bailey will catch Messick for the first time. Austin Hedges usually works with the lefty.
Tampa Bay gives the start to right-hander Drew Rasmussen, who has been sharp this October. He is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two postseason starts, with 17 strikeouts over 14 innings.
Rasmussen opened this series in Game 1, when the Guardians won. He threw six innings, gave up two runs on solo home runs, allowed eight hits and two walks, and struck out seven.
Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey were the players who homered against him. During the regular season, Rasmussen went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 30 starts and recorded 174 strikeouts in 172 innings.
Game 5 is set for 5:08 p.m.
The game will air on TBS, HBO Max, TruTV and Univision. It can also be heard on WMMS (100.7-FM), WTAM (1100-AM) and WARF (1350-AM, Spanish broadcast).
The series schedule from here is simple: Game 6 is Monday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. in Tampa Bay, and Game 7, if needed, would follow on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 8 p.m. back at the Rays.
In Other News...
Guardians Loss May Have Quietly Set Up The Rest Of This Series
The Guardians did enough early to make Game 4 feel like a chance to even the ALCS, but the game slipped away once the Rays pushed across runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Even so, the loss may not have been as damaging as it first looked, because Cleveland managed to avoid leaning too heavily on the bullpen and preserve its most important relief arms for the rest of the series.
That matters with the matchup still hanging in the balance, especially after Tampa Bay also went through several pitchers in the same game. Both clubs now have some moving pieces to sort through on the mound, and the way each staff is managed over the next few days could end up shaping the rest of the series just as much as the score from Game 4. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Real October Decision On Travis Bazzana
Travis Bazzana has given the Guardians enough at the plate to keep his name in the lineup conversation, but the glove has made things a little less straightforward as October has worn on. The rookie second baseman has flashed real offensive value, yet his seven errors at the position have become hard to ignore, and the latest reminder came in a recent game against the Rays.
Stephen Vogt has already shown he is willing to make a late-game switch at second, turning to Angel Genao in postseason situations to tighten things up defensively. So the question hanging over Cleveland is a familiar one for any contender with a young infielder in the spotlight: how much offense can they afford to keep in the lineup if the defense keeps giving away outs? [Read more 🡒]
Travis Bazzana May Have Just Changed Cleveland's ALCS Outlook
Travis Bazzana delivered his best postseason game yet in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, reaching base three times against the Tampa Bay Rays and giving Cleveland a jolt when it needed one. The rookie second baseman finished with a home run, a walk, a run scored and an RBI, and his first career playoff homer helped spark a rally even in a loss.
For a Guardians lineup that has been searching for steady production in a tight series, Bazzana's timing mattered almost as much as the box score. Cleveland did not finish the job, but the performance helped level the matchup at two games apiece and hinted at a player who may be starting to settle into the postseason stage at exactly the right time. [Read more 🡒]