Game 5 of the ALCS arrives Sunday afternoon with the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians deadlocked at two wins apiece after Tampa Bay took Game 4.
That setup leaves plenty of prop options on the board, and the home run market is part of the conversation as both clubs try to land a defining swing before the series returns to Tampa Bay on Monday.
Drew Rasmussen, who gave up 14 home runs in the regular season and two more in the postseason, gets the ball for Tampa Bay. Cleveland counters with Parker Messick, who allowed 17 home runs during the regular season and one in the postseason. With the total sitting at 6.5, offense may be tough to come by.
Home run props are always a high-variance play, especially in October, but there has already been some power in this series. One name worth circling is Chase DeLauter, who already went deep against Rasmussen in Game 1.
DeLauter finished the regular season with 16 homers and has handled the Rays ace well in this matchup. He went 1-for-3 against Rasmussen in the opener and is now 2-for-4 against him in his career during the regular season. He was especially productive against right-handed pitching this year, crushing 13 home runs with an .808 OPS.
He’s also carried that form into the series. Through four games, DeLauter has five hits, three RBIs and three runs scored.
In the 2026 postseason, he’s batting .294 with two doubles and a homer. At nearly 10/1 odds, there’s a case to be made for him again on Sunday.
Junior Caminero is the other power name that jumps off the page. He blasted 42 home runs in the regular season and was especially dangerous against lefties, hitting .287 with a .916 OPS and eight homers versus southpaws.
The matchup history with Messick hasn’t been friendly - Caminero is just 1-for-12 against him - but the Guardians left-hander did allow 17 homers in the 2026 regular season. Caminero also hasn’t gone yard in the playoffs yet, though he has stayed involved offensively, recording at least one hit in three games in this series and adding two doubles.
His home run price has climbed to +497 with Messick on the mound, but Cleveland’s bullpen has been used heavily over the past few days and could be exposed if the game opens up.
With only one game on the board, the safest approach is to take a shot at the biggest bat in the matchup and hope he finally runs into one on Sunday.
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 🡒]