The American League Championship Series is dead even again, and now the Guardians and Rays are staring at the kind of Game 5 that tends to shape a whole series. Cleveland hosts Tampa Bay on Sunday after the Rays rolled to a 7-3 win Saturday night to knot the best-of-seven at 2-2.
That turns this into a best-of-three, with the winner of Game 5 moving one step from the pennant and the loser suddenly backed into a corner. Historically, teams that grab Game 5 to go up 3-2 in a seven-game series have finished the job 68% of the time, going 80-37.
Tampa Bay is handing the ball to Drew Rasmussen, the two-time All-Star who put together a huge regular season at 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 172 innings. He’s been sharp in the postseason too, working 14 innings with a 1.29 ERA, 17 strikeouts and just two walks. Cleveland, though, already knows it can solve him - the Guardians rallied for a win after Rasmussen started Game 1.
Parker Messick gets the call for Cleveland. The rookie All-Star went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 193 innings in 186 ⅓ regular-season innings, and he has been steady in October as well. Through 11 ⅔ playoff innings, he has posted a 3.09 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
This series has also been squeezed by the weather. Game 4 was supposed to be played Friday night, but inclement weather pushed it to Saturday and sent Game 5 to Sunday, wiping out the travel day before Monday’s Game 6 and, if needed, Tuesday’s Game 7.
The winner of the ALCS will head to Milwaukee for the World Series, which opens Friday against the Brewers.
In Other News...
Junior Caminero Just Delivered A Statement The Rays Needed Most
Junior Caminero had been putting together the kind of at-bats the Rays could live with, even before the ball started leaving the yard. In Game 6, though, the production finally matched the process, as his two-run homer in the seventh inning stretched Tampa Bays lead to 5-1 at a crucial moment with the World Series in sight.
It was a welcome breakthrough for a young hitter who had been working through some earlier struggles, and it came with the sort of timely impact that can change the tone of a postseason run. Kevin Cash had already pointed to Camineros quality at-bats, and now the Rays have a reminder that even when the numbers have lagged, the contact has not gone away. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Turn To An Unexpected Arm In Must Win Game 6
The Guardians are reaching for a different look as their season hangs in the balance, turning to right-hander Shawn Armstrong as the opener for Game 6. It is the kind of October move that says plenty about where things stand, especially after Tampa Bay got a steady lift from Drew Rasmussen in Game 5, when he worked seven innings and allowed just one run.
Cleveland had hoped rookie Parker Messick could settle the matchup early, but he was gone after a brief outing and the margin for error only shrinks from here. Freddy Peralta is lined up to take the ball for Tampa Bay in Game 6 after a strong run of recent starts, leaving the Rays with a more familiar script and the Guardians searching for a way to keep the series alive. [Read more 🡒]
Rays One Win Away As Game 6 Bat Could Change Everything
The Rays head into Game 6 with a chance to punch their ticket to the World Series, and the questions around how this one plays out are as much about power as they are about pressure. Tampa Bay has leaned on timely offense all series, and as the matchup shifts again, the focus lands on whether this game turns into one of those nights when a single swing can tilt everything.
Jonathan Aranda has become one of the more intriguing names in the conversation after what he has done at the plate lately, while Cleveland still has Jos Ramrez as the kind of bat that can change the tone of a postseason game in one at-bat. On the mound, Freddy Peralta gives Tampa Bay a strong starting point, and Clevelands bullpen approach means the Rays may not get many clean looks before the late innings decide whether the series ends here or heads back for one more round. [Read more 🡒]