The Tampa Bay Rays are one win from the World Series after taking Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, 3-1, over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday night at Progressive Field.
Drew Rasmussen once again set the tone for Tampa Bay. The right-hander worked seven innings, gave up one run on four hits, struck out six and walked one to pick up his second postseason win. With Rasmussen steadying everything on the mound, the Rays moved ahead in the series, 3-2, and now have a shot at their first American League pennant since 2020.
Tampa Bay also gave him support early, and Cleveland spent the night chasing the game. The Rays got on the board in the first inning when Parker Messick issued a bases-loaded walk. Jonathan Aranda followed with an RBI single in the second, stretching the lead to 2-0, and Liam Hicks added another RBI single in the third to make it 3-0.
Cleveland managed to push across a run in the sixth, but that was as far as the comeback went. The Guardians could not string together enough offense to erase Tampa Bay’s early cushion, especially with the Rays backing Rasmussen with sharp defense and controlled pitching.
Now the series swings back to Tropicana Field for Game 6 on Monday night, and Cleveland is suddenly in elimination territory.
That doesn’t mean the Guardians are out of answers yet. They already bounced back from a 2-0 hole against the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series, so they’ve shown they can handle postseason pressure. But if they want to extend this series again, they’ll need far more at the plate than they got Sunday.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has built its postseason run on the same formula that carried it through Game 5: timely hitting, solid defense and disciplined pitching. And history is on its side too. Teams that win Game 5 on the road after a 2-2 tie have gone on to take the series 75% of the time under the current postseason format.
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
With their season hanging in the balance, the Rays found the steadiness they had been searching for and forced the Guardians to keep playing under pressure. Tampa Bay mixed timely offense with crisp work in the field and enough pitching to keep Cleveland from ever fully settling in, a combination that was missing when the series tilted toward the brink.
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 🡒]