José Ramírez kept making Cleveland history. The Guardians still couldn’t keep their October alive.
Monday night’s 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field closed the book on a postseason run that had been built on survival. Cleveland had been living on the edge for most of October, but the early hole was too deep this time, and two late home runs against the bullpen finished the job for the Rays.
The Guardians took a 2-1 series lead and then dropped the final three games, ending their shot at a first World Series trip since 2016. They finished the postseason 5-6, with three of those wins coming in elimination games against Chicago in the Division Series. It also marked Cleveland’s third straight ALCS Game 6 loss, a stretch that reaches back to 1998 against the Yankees and 2007 against Boston.
“It just hurts,” manager Stephen Vogt said afterward. “It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go and just weren’t able to get there.”
Ramírez’s third-inning walk pushed his postseason on-base streak to 18 straight games, the longest in franchise history. He moved past Steven Kwan’s mark of 16 earlier in the series, and his current run is the longest by any major league player since Freddie Freeman reached base in 25 consecutive postseason games from 2024-26.
Ramírez also played in his 56th career postseason game, moving ahead of Jim Thome into second place in Cleveland history. Only Omar Vizquel, with 57, has appeared in more.
Chase DeLauter added his own place in the record book. His 2-for-5 night gave him 13 postseason hits, the most ever by a Cleveland rookie in a single October, topping Brayan Rocchio’s 11 from 2024. DeLauter scored the Guardians’ first two runs and spent the month looking every bit like someone who could become a fixture in the middle of the lineup.
Cleveland’s offense simply didn’t do enough around those performances. The Guardians stranded nine runners, got seven hits, and finally cracked Freddy Peralta for a run when Nathaniel Lowe delivered an RBI single in the sixth.
They managed two more runs in the eighth and briefly had the tying run in scoring position, but the hit that could have changed the night never arrived. Across the last three games of the series, Cleveland scored just seven runs.
“Our guys never quit,” Vogt said. “They never stopped fighting. That’s who they are.”
The bullpen, which had carried so much weight in October, took the hardest blows. Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis each gave up two-run home runs, with Junior Caminero turning on a splitter from Smith in the seventh for a 346-foot drive off the left field foul pole.
It was the first homer Smith had ever allowed on that pitch. In the eighth, Yandy Díaz answered Cleveland’s brief rally with a 416-foot shot off Gaddis that restored Tampa Bay’s cushion and shut the door for good.
“It’s a gut punch there in the seventh,” Vogt said. “And our guys came right back.”
Even with the loss, Cleveland’s pitching staff put up a historic strikeout pace. The Guardians recorded three strikeouts Monday to bring their postseason total to 123 in 11 games, the fourth-most in MLB history through a team’s first 11 playoff games.
They trailed only the 2022 Astros, 2019 Nationals and 2013 Tigers. Cleveland averaged 11.2 strikeouts per game this October, with Gavin Williams leading the way at 33 in just 16 2/3 innings.
The swing-and-miss stuff was elite. The run production at the end just wasn’t there.
Shawn Armstrong also carved out a strange bit of postseason history. He became the first pitcher in MLB playoff history to start a game after pitching on each of the previous two days, opening Game 4 on Saturday, working in relief Sunday and then starting Monday’s elimination game.
Armstrong threw a perfect first inning before leaving in the second after a leadoff single to Junior Caminero. He was charged with one run and took the first postseason loss of his career.
Still, he finished with a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 postseason innings, allowing one earned run and walking none.
Tanner Bibee never got a chance to pitch in the ALCS. Cleveland’s opening day starter appeared just once in the Division Series against Chicago, and he spent the championship series in reserve. Vogt said the Guardians kept Bibee available mostly for extra innings insurance, but that moment never came.
“We wanted Tanner to pitch,” Vogt said. “The spot just never really presented itself.”
Cleveland heads into the offseason with a third straight American League Central title and a second ALCS appearance in three years under Vogt. But the frustration of coming so close and falling two wins short of the World Series will hang around.
“Let it hurt,” Vogt said. “Let it sink in.
Let it fuel you this winter. But more than anything, just really proud of our group.”
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Guardians Turn To An Unexpected Arm In Must Win Game 6
With their backs against the wall in Game 6, the Guardians are making a less conventional call on the mound by turning to right-hander Shawn Armstrong as the opener. It is the kind of move that speaks to the urgency of the moment, especially with the series slipping and Cleveland looking for any edge it can find against a Rays club that has been getting strong pitching at the right time.
Tampa Bay brings plenty of confidence into the matchup after Drew Rasmussen followed up with another dominant postseason showing in Game 5, while Freddy Peralta is lined up to get the ball for Game 6 after settling in quickly since arriving. Cleveland, meanwhile, is still trying to rebound from Parker Messick's rough recent start, and the Guardians' choice to hand the first inning to Armstrong only adds another layer of intrigue to a game they simply cannot afford to waste. [Read more 🡒]
Parker Messick Sent A Defiant Message Guardians Fans Will Love
Parker Messicks two innings in Game 5 were only a small part of a night that left the Guardians in a tough spot, as the Rays pulled out a 3-1 win and moved within one victory of the World Series. Even so, the young pitcher did not sound rattled after the loss, and his postgame message carried the kind of edge Cleveland fans tend to appreciate when the season is hanging in the balance.
The Guardians now head to Tropicana Field needing to win both remaining games to keep their postseason run alive, a steep ask against a Rays club that has already taken control of the series. Messicks confidence after his early exit offered a reminder that the mood inside the clubhouse is still pointed toward a comeback, even with the margin for error gone. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Took A Risk With Parker Messick In The Worst Spot
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It proved to be a tough night for the rookie. Messick got through only two innings and allowed two runs, and Cleveland never quite recovered in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. In a postseason game where every small edge matters, the Guardians took a calculated swing on catching alignment, and the result only sharpened the question of whether the risk was worth it in the biggest spot. [Read more 🡒]