Yandy Diaz called his shot, and the Rays made it stick.
With a 7-3 win in Game 6 on Monday at a roaring Trop sellout crowd of 40,230, the Rays finished off the Guardians and punched their ticket to the World Series. The opener is set for Friday night in Milwaukee.
Diaz had said after Sunday’s win in Cleveland that the Rays were going to wrap up the American League Championship Series on Monday. He did exactly that, then added the exclamation point with an eighth-inning homer.
“I told you, bro,” Diaz said afterward, in English.
The Rays built the kind of lead that should have made life easy: 3-0 early, then 5-1 after Junior Caminero’s two-run blast. But the bullpen had to sweat through a rocky stretch that let Cleveland creep back in before the Rays slammed the door.
Freddy Peralta gave them the kind of start they needed again. He worked five shutout innings, then handed things off after the Guardians finally scratched out a run in the sixth. The Rays also got key help at the plate from Richie Palacios, whose two-run single to right-center in the second opened the scoring, and from Jonny DeLuca, whose sacrifice fly made it 3-0 in the third.
That third inning could have been even bigger. The Rays loaded the bases, but only got one run out of it after Liam Hicks singled, Caminero walked and Chandler Simpson dropped a bunt the Guardians couldn’t handle. Victor Mesa Jr. forced a play at the plate on a grounder, then DeLuca’s fly ball brought Caminero home.
Caminero kept piling on in the seventh, jumping on Cade Smith’s first pitch and driving a splitter down the left-field line for his first homer of the postseason. He paused to celebrate with teammates on the way to first, then crossed his arms after touching home, a gesture that appeared to nod to former Rays star Randy Arozarena, who was watching from the Trop stands.
The Guardians weren’t done making things tense. Tyler Wells gave up two hits while getting two outs to start the eighth, then Ian Seymour walked Travis Bazzana, walked Patrick Bailey to force in a run and hit Angel Martinez to make it 5-3. Kevin Kelly rescued the inning by striking out Brayan Rocchio to end the threat.
Then Diaz finished it.
After Liam Hicks caught the final foul pop-up for the last out, the Rays spilled toward the mound and celebrated on the field. They put on their “American League Champions” shirts, then gathered for the William Harridge Trophy presentation.
Caminero, who shouted “Tampa, this is for you!” during an onfield interview, grabbed a Rays flag, ran it toward the fans and waved it before planting it briefly behind home plate.
Even after the final out, some players were still trying to process it.
“I’m gonna have to hear it like 20 more times for it to sink in,” closer Bryan Baker said. “It’s still not real to me yet, but I’m pretty dang excited about it. And I’m really, really proud to be going with this group of guys.”
This is the Rays’ third trip to the World Series, and they are still chasing their first championship in 29 seasons. The Brewers are in the same boat, at least as a franchise, though the Milwaukee Braves won the Series in 1957.
The Rays’ previous trips came in 2008 and 2020. In 2008, they were still a young franchise finding its way, and they outlasted Boston in a tense seven-game ALCS before losing the World Series to the Phillies in five games. In 2020, they moved through a pandemic-shortened season and a compressed postseason before falling to the Dodgers in six games in Arlington, Texas.
Now they get Milwaukee again, with the Brewers coming off a 103-win season, a 3-1 NLDS win over the Padres and a sweep of the Dodgers in the NLCS. The two clubs also saw each other earlier this season, with the Brewers taking two of three in Milwaukee from March 30-April 1.
Monday’s win started with the Rays taking control early against a Guardians team working on a third straight bullpen-day plan. Peralta’s strong outing and the early offense made the difference, even if Cleveland’s bullpen chaos and the late push created a few anxious moments before Diaz’s homer and Baker’s final three outs settled it.
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