The Rays are heading back home with the ALCS in their hands, and Game 5 was a clean snapshot of why they’ve gotten this far. Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over Cleveland on Sunday pushed the club to a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, leaving the Rays one victory from a trip to the World Series.
“That was Rays baseball at its finest,” right-handed reliever Tyler Wells said.
The offense didn’t wait around for a three-run swing or a blast into the seats. Tampa Bay chipped away early, scoring in each of the first three innings of a playoff game for the fourth time in franchise history.
Yandy Díaz opened the afternoon with a double and later crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk to Jonny DeLuca. Jonathan Aranda followed with a one-out RBI single in the second, which chased left-hander Parker Messick after two innings, and Liam Hicks added another one-out RBI single in the third.
The Rays still did it without a home run, even though that’s been part of the conversation all series. Tampa Bay has just two long balls in the ALCS, and manager Kevin Cash kept the focus on the bats finding their way.
“Hopefully, they're coming,” Cash said.
For DeLuca, the key was what those early runs did to the game’s rhythm.
“There’s still pressure on the offense after, but I think that early momentum shift is huge, and especially in the first inning,” DeLuca said. “Once bats get hot, the saying of it being contagious is true. So I feel like we’ve got it going, and we’re going to keep it going.”
Cash said the Rays earned those chances by working the counts and making Messick pay when they got them.
“We know how good Parker Messick is,” Cash added. “I think we took advantage of getting ourselves in some favorable counts and getting some big hits.”
The fielding behind the pitching was just as sharp. Ben Williamson dove at second base to steal a hit from José Ramírez in the fourth, and Taylor Walls turned in a spinning play up the middle before throwing out Petey Halpin at first to end the fifth. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was quick to single out Walls.
“Taylor Walls is one of the best shortstops on the planet,” Vogt said. “That's why he's in there.
He makes every play. If you hit it to him, he catches it, you're out.
And they've played some really good defense. Ben Williamson had a couple nice plays at second base tonight as well.”
Aranda’s work at first base also mattered in a big way, with his scoops helping complete plays on throws from Walls, Williamson and others.
“He killed it over there,” right-handed starter Drew Rasmussen said.
The pitchers noticed.
“It makes your job so much easier,” Wells said. “That’s that trust piece, right? To be able to know that those guys are going to go out there and they’re going to make plays for you.”
Rasmussen was the tone-setter on the mound, working seven innings and allowing one run. It was the latest strong postseason outing for the 31-year-old, who had already thrown eight scoreless innings in ALDS Game 1 against the Yankees and six-plus innings of two-run ball in Game 1 of this ALCS.
Tampa Bay’s bullpen kept the edge intact from there. Left-hander Cam Booser got the first two outs of the eighth, then Wells came on and struck out Ramírez to leave a runner stranded at first. Wells was visibly fired up as he walked off the mound.
Bryan Baker closed it out, continuing his breakout season with his fifth save in six scoreless postseason appearances. The 31-year-old right-hander became the third AL/NL pitcher to finish a game in each of his first six postseason appearances while allowing only one total hit, joining Jason Motte of the 2011 Cardinals and Mark Wohlers of the 1996 Braves.
With no off-days left in the ALCS, Tampa Bay now turns to Game 6 on Monday night and, if necessary, Game 7 on Tuesday night. Baker likes the flexibility this staff has given the dugout.
“It’s probably a good thing to have so many options,” Baker said. “There are so many different matchups that you run into -- lefty, right, different parts of the order, parts of the order with power, parts of the order without. We’ve done a good job of giving Cash and the coaching staff a lot of options in different scenarios, and we’ve proven that a bunch of different guys can go out there and do it.”
In Other News...
Kevin Cashs Game 4 Pitching Move Changed The Rays ALCS Stakes
The Rays found a way to change the tone of the American League Championship Series in Game 4, and part of it came from a move that gave Kevin Cash a little more flexibility than usual. Freddy Peralta, who had already started and won Game 2, was available out of the bullpen for the 7-3 win over Cleveland, and Cash said the right-hander was eager to help in whatever role the team needed. Peralta handled a brief outing well, giving Tampa Bay another arm when the game tightened and helping the Rays even the series at two games apiece.
The bigger picture now shifts to Game 5, where the pitching plan becomes even more important with the ALCS hanging in the balance. Cash confirmed Drew Rasmussen will get the start, and the Rays enter the next game with a chance to take control after surviving a pivotal swing game on the road. For a club that has leaned into creative usage all October, the question is no longer just who starts, but how far Cash is willing to push his options as the series moves into its most pressure-packed stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Finally Found What They Needed With Season On The Line
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Victor Mesa Jr. helped set the tone with a standout defensive sequence, while Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero supplied the kind of offense the Rays needed to stay alive. Nick Martinez and Foster Griffin handled the mound duties as Tampa Bay extended its lead late, taking advantage when Cleveland's defense slipped and turning a tight postseason game into one the Rays could finally control. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Turn To An Unusual Rallying Cry In Must-Win Game 4
Down 2-1 in the ALCS against the Guardians, the Rays are looking for any edge they can find as they head into a must-win Game 4, and Richie Palacios has turned to an unlikely source for motivation. He framed Tampa Bays spot against Cleveland through the lens of an NBA playoff team that faced a similar hole, using that comeback as a reminder that a series can swing fast when a club finds the right urgency at the right time.
Palacios went a step further by mapping some of the Rays own personalities onto the kind of roles that tend to drive those postseason runs, suggesting there are players in the clubhouse who fit the tough, relentless mold those teams lean on. It is the sort of clubhouse mindset that can sound like a rallying cry or a stretch depending on how the game goes, but for the Rays, the bigger point is simple enough: they need Game 4 to feel like the start of something, not the end. [Read more 🡒]