Can the Guardians really keep doing this?
They were supposed to be spent after the five-game battle with the White Sox. Instead, they walked into Tampa Bay and knocked off a Rays team that had the American League’s best home record at 55-26 and finished the regular season at 98-64, best in the league.
That’s quite a backdrop for a Game 1 win in the American League Championship Series. Especially after Tampa Bay jumped out fast.
Drew Rasmussen, coming off a start in which he allowed one hit over eight scoreless innings, had a 16-5 record and a 2.67 ERA. And after the Rays scored two runs in the first inning off Cleveland starter Foster Griffin, it looked like the Guardians were in trouble.
Through five innings, they were still down 2-0 and had left five runners on base.
Then the tone changed in a hurry.
Chase DeLauter opened the sixth with a 102-mph blast into the left-field seats, cutting the deficit to 2-1. In the seventh, Patrick Bailey followed with a 436-foot homer to tie it. Bailey is hitting .368 in the playoffs with two home runs, and the Guardians kept rolling from there.
By the eighth, the game was even at 2-2. José Ramirez singled, DeLauter doubled, and then Nathaniel Lowe came through against left-hander Ian Seymour with a single to center that scored two runs. Lowe had hit just .111 (5-for-45) against lefties in the regular season, but he delivered when it mattered.
Cleveland added three more in the ninth to push the lead from 4-3 to 7-3. Ramirez drove in a run and finished with three more hits, while Jo Adell knocked in two runs.
After the shaky first inning, Cleveland’s pitchers held Tampa Bay scoreless the rest of the way. The Guardians now lead the best-of-7 series 1-0.
There’s a long way to go, and plenty can still happen.
In Other News...
Cade Smith Is Giving Cleveland A Bullpen Edge And A Real Debate
Cade Smith has turned into one of the most important arms in Clevelands postseason push, showing up in every playoff game so far and giving Stephen Vogt a trusted option no matter how the late innings have unfolded. The Guardians have not treated him like a one-inning closer as much as a flexible weapon, and that usage has helped give their bullpen a different kind of edge when the margin gets tight.
Hunter Gaddis has been part of that mix too, keeping runs off the board and giving Cleveland more than one late-game answer. The bigger question now is how Vogt keeps sorting through those leverage spots as the pressure rises, especially with Smith continuing to look like the kind of pitcher who can handle just about any inning he is handed. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Just Flipped This ALCS In Their Favor Early
The Guardians opened the AL Championship Series by taking Game 1 from the Rays, 7-3, and in the process gave themselves an early edge in a series that now shifts to Tropicana Field. Foster Griffin set the tone with four strong innings, and Cleveland got useful offense throughout the night from Chase DeLauter, Patrick Bailey, Jose Ramirez and Jo Adell as the lineup kept putting pressure on Tampa Bay.
For a club trying to seize control early in a short series, the timing of the big hits mattered just as much as the final margin. Cleveland turned a tight game into a more comfortable finish before the inning-by-inning tension fully settled, and with a 1-0 lead in hand, the Guardians have already made the Rays feel like they are chasing from behind. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Game 2 Problem They Can't Let Snowball
The Guardians are heading into an important Game 2 with Parker Messick lined up to take the ball, and the challenge is clear enough from the matchup in front of them. They will have to find a way to work around Freddy Peraltas changeup while getting something going from the top and middle of the order, where Steven Kwan, Travis Bazzana, Angel Martinez and Brayan Rocchio all loom as key pieces in the plan.
Tampa Bay is also the kind of opponent that can make a game feel louder than it is, with aggressive tactics that put pressure on every inning. For Cleveland, the concern is not just winning the matchup on paper, but keeping the game from tilting into the kind of early trouble that can snowball fast in October. [Read more 🡒]