The ALCS is right back where it started: all even, all tense, and all of a sudden looking like a three-game sprint.
The Rays answered Friday’s rainout and the pressure of trailing in the series with a 7-3 win Saturday night at Progressive Field, pulling the matchup level and setting up a best-of-three finish. Tampa Bay’s victory also ensures the series will head back to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for Game 6 on Monday.
This one turned when the Rays’ middle of the order started looking dangerous again. Jonathan Aranda drove in two runs, and Yandy Díaz finished things in the ninth with a two-run opposite-field homer. But the night really belonged to Junior Caminero, whose bat finally broke through in a big spot.
Caminero delivered the go-ahead RBI double in the sixth, ripping a 110.2 mph shot into the left-field corner and over the reach of a leaping José Ramírez. It came after an earlier drive that looked like it had the chance to leave the yard before Petey Halpin hauled it in at the center-field wall. That ball carried a strange kind of bad luck with it: under Statcast, it was the 265th batted ball at 110.0-110.9 mph and a 28-30 degree launch angle, postseason included, and every one of the other 264 had gone for a homer.
Caminero didn’t look like a hitter settling for consolation prizes. After putting the Rays ahead in the sixth, he stood on second base bundled against the Cleveland cold and pounded his chest with both fists, shouting back toward the dugout. The Rays have been waiting for that kind of impact.
The Guardians did make it interesting in the seventh. Travis Bazzana homered, Brayan Rocchio added an RBI single, and Steven Kwan kept the inning breathing by sliding into first and busting his lip in the process.
He came out late for the next frame with gauze in his mouth. But by then, the Rays had already stacked enough cushion to survive the push.
Tampa Bay added three runs in the top of that same seventh, and one of them came on an RBI single from Aranda that brought in a second run after an error.
On the mound, Nick Martinez kept the Rays in firm command. He had already worked 13 scoreless innings against Cleveland this season, and on Saturday he stayed sharp for 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. The only blemish came in the first, when Chase DeLauter delivered an RBI single.
The Rays even had another weapon ready if needed. Freddy Peralta, who was dominant in Game 2, entered in relief after Martinez.
Now the series turns to Game 5 on Sunday at Progressive Field, scheduled for 5:08 p.m. ET. The Guardians are set to pitch Parker Messick, while the Rays could send Drew Rasmussen back out as their ace.
And with the series tied 2-2, history says Game 5 matters plenty. In best-of-seven postseason series using the current 2-3-2 format that were deadlocked after Game 4, the road team in Game 5 has gone on to win the series 35 times in 62 chances, or 56%. In any best-of-series tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has taken the series 46 of 69 times, or 67%.
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 🡒]