The Rays are headed back to Tampa with the series in their hands.
Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Guardians in Cleveland pushed Tampa Bay to a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series, leaving the club one victory away from a return to the World Series for the third time in franchise history. They’ll get two chances to finish it at Tropicana Field, where they own the best record in the majors, beginning Monday night in Game 6 with Freddy Peralta set to pitch. If it goes to Game 7, that one would be Tuesday, with the winner moving on to face the Brewers in a World Series that opens Friday in Milwaukee.
Drew Rasmussen handled the heavy lifting again. The Rays’ ace was sharp from the start, carving through seven innings and holding Cleveland to one hit through five scoreless frames before allowing three singles and a run over his final two innings. He finished with one run allowed on four hits and a walk, striking out six on 95 pitches.
Tampa Bay backed him quickly and kept pressure on the Guardians’ bullpen all day. Cleveland was forced into a second straight bullpen game after starter Parker Messick was knocked out after just two innings and 57 pitches. The Rays scored in each of the first three innings to build a cushion they never surrendered.
The first inning started with Yandy Diaz ripping a leadoff double to center. Ryan Vilade drew a one-out walk, Chandler Simpson then hustled out an infield single to load the bases, and Jonny DeLuca drew a five-pitch walk for the 1-0 lead. Simpson’s speed was the difference there, turning a grounder into an inning-extending play.
Tampa Bay stretched the lead to 2-0 in the second. Ben Williamson singled to open the inning, Diaz followed with another single, and Jonathan Aranda brought Williamson home with a base hit of his own.
Diaz, Aranda and Caminero - the Rays’ “Big Three” - had done very little in the series until Saturday, but Aranda delivered here. Messick did manage to strike out Vilade and Caminero and limit the damage.
In the third, the Rays scored again against lefty Tim Herrin, who was the first of five Cleveland relievers to work the game. Simpson doubled to start the inning, stole third and came in on a bloop single by Liam Hicks.
Cleveland finally broke through in the sixth. Steven Kwan, who is a close friend and college teammate of Rasmussen’s at Oregon State, singled with one out. Jose Ramirez followed with a single on the next pitch, and Kwan scored on a Chase DeLauter grounder that Aranda fielded but could only turn into an out at first.
Rasmussen returned for the seventh and worked around another scare. A leadoff single brought the bullpen into motion, but he got Travis Bazzana to pop out and Andrew Bailey to ground into an inning-ending double play to complete his night.
Cam Booser and Tyler Wells handled the eighth, and Bryan Baker closed it out for his fifth save of the postseason and 46th save of the season overall. Baker made things interesting with a leadoff walk, then the Rays got just one out on a double-play grounder when second baseman Richie Palacios bounced the throw to first and Aranda couldn’t handle the scoop. Baker regrouped and finished the job.
The Rays have been here before. In 2008, they beat the Red Sox in a seven-game ALCS and clinched at home on Oct. 19 before falling to the Phillies in the World Series, 4-1. In the pandemic season of 2020, they advanced past the Astros 3-2 in games played at a neutral site in San Diego, then lost to the Dodgers 4-2 in the World Series in Arlington, Texas.
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 🡒]