A pair of low-payroll teams with similar styles will face off in the American League Championship Series, which opens at Tropicana Field on Monday night.
It’s small ball vs. “Guards Ball” when the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-seven series, with a spot in the 122nd World Series waiting for the winner.
First pitch is at 8 p.m. Game 2 is Tuesday in St. Petersburg. TBS will televise the series nationally.
Click here to purchase postseason tickets for Tropicana Field.
Two-time All-Star right-hander Drew Rasmussen takes the mound for Tampa Bay after dominating the New York Yankees in the opener of the AL Division Series.
Lefty Foster Griffin is the likely starter for Cleveland, which was set to work out later Sunday after celebrating its victory over the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 of its ALDS on Saturday.
ALSO READ: It will be Rays vs. Guardians in the AL Championship Series
The Rays won an AL-best 98 games in the regular season, swept New York in the ALDS and seeks the third pennant in the franchise’s 29-season history.
Cleveland won 85 games, fell behind Chicago in the ALDS and became only the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series.
The Rays-Yankees matchup was David vs. Goliath in terms of payroll because New York opened the season with Major League Baseball's third highest at $302.8 million and Tampa Bay ranked 26th at $90.5 million.
But the Rays are facing a team now that spent even less. The Guardians were last in the majors at $75.5 million.
Both teams emphasize contact at the plate, speed on the bases, strong fundamentals, solid pitching and doing whatever it takes to win.
Tampa Bay led the AL with a .258 batting average and had the fewest strikeouts in the majors. The Guardians only hit .239, didn’t have a hitter with more than 18 homers and had the fifth-fewest strikeouts in the league.
The two clubs bolstered their rosters at the trade deadline. Tampa Bay got starter Freddy Peralta, catcher Liam Hicks and reliever Tyler Wells. Cleveland acquired starter Foster Griffin outfielder Jo Adell, and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.
“I do think there’s more similarities than not,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Sunday. “I feel Cleveland does mirror us or we mirror them. And I say that with the utmost respect to them, the way they develop pitching, the way they think about the game."
Rasmussen vs. Griffin
Rasmussen took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of the ALDS opener, finishing with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory. He was 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and led the AL with a 0.91 WHIP. Rasmussen has been one of baseball’s best pitchers since an internal brace procedure in July 2023 that forced him to miss more than a year.
ALSO READ: Rays celebrate sweeping Yankees, advancing to AL Championship Series
“I could really care less where people would rank me,” Rasmussen said. “I’m going to come in every single day, be as prepared as possible and I’m going to go out there and compete to the best of my abilities and do my best to execute and give our team the best chance to win.
Griffin was 3-3 with a 5.19 ERA in nine starts for Cleveland after the trade. The 31-year-old was 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA with the Washington Nationals after spending the previous three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League.
Griffin had seven strikeouts and gave up one run in 2⅔ innings of relief in Game 3 against the White Sox.
Run producers
Junior Caminero batted .276 with 42 homers and 101 RBIs and was 3-for-10 with one double and walked twice vs. the Yankees. Jonathan Aranda hit a career-best 22 homers in the regular season and was 4-for-12 in the ALDS with a homer in the opener. Yandy Diaz (.293, 22, 85) and Chandler Simpson (.306, 48 steals) are integral parts of the lineup.
Chase DeLauter led the Guardians with a .287 average to go with 16 homers. Steven Kwan hit .282 and Angel Martinez led the team with 18 homers. Martinez wasn’t in the starting lineup in Game 5 vs. Chicago after going 0-for-15 and striking out eight times in the first four games. Jose Ramírez batted .235 in the regular season but homered twice against the White Sox, including a two-run drive in the 2-0 win in Game 5.
Cleveland-Tampa Bay connections
- Caminero signed with Cleveland out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, but played only one season in the minors before he was traded a year later to the Rays for pitcher Tobias Myers, was designated for assignment by the Guardians eight months later.
- Diaz, signed out of Cuba by Cleveland, came to the Rays in 2018, part of a three-team trade involving the Seattle Mariners. Tampa Bay also received pitcher Cole Sulser from the Guardians in exchange for first baseman Jake Bauers (to Cleveland) and cash considerations (to Seattle). Sulser pitched in 51 games this season for the Rays and was on the ALDS roster.
- Before he became Tampa Bay's skipper, Cash spent 2013 and 2014 as Terry Francona’s bullpen coach in Cleveland.
- Cleveland selected reliever Kevin Kelly in the 19th round of the 2017 amateur draft. The Colorado Rockies acquired him in 2022 Rule 5 draft, but he was dealt to the Rays for cash considerations.
- Rays infielder Richie Palacios was a third-round pick of Cleveland in 2018 and made his MLB debut with the Guardians in 2022. He was designated for assignment after the season and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, who traded him to Tampa Bay in 2024.
- Guardians manager Stephen Vogt spent 10 years in the majors with seven teams, the first was Tampa Bay in 2012. He was drafted by the Devil Rays in the 12th round (365th overall) in 2007 amateur draft, spent six years in the Tampa Bay system and was named the franchise's Minor League Player of the Year in 2011.
ALCS history
The Rays won their previous appearances in seven games, against Boston in 2008 and the Houston in 2020. They lost the World Series both times, to Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cleveland is 3-3, including a five-game series loss to the Yankees in 2024, and have not won the World Series since in 1948 — the longest drought in the majors.
Series schedule
- Game 1 – Monday at Tropicana Field, 8 p.m.
- Game 2 – Tuesday at Tropicana Field, 8 p.m.
- Game 3 – Thursday, Oct. 15 at Cleveland/Chicago, 6 p.m.
- Game 4 – Friday at Cleveland/Chicago,6 p.m.
- Game 5 – Saturday, Oct. 17 at Cleveland/Chicago (if necessary), 8 p.m.
- Game 6 – Monday, Oct. 19 at Tropicana Field (if necessary), 5 or 8 p.m.
- Game 7 – Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Tropicana Field (if necessary), 8 p.m.
Note: If the National League Championship Series is over, Game 6 will move to 8 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: WDAE (95.7 FM and 620 AM)
WUSF's Rick Mayer contributed to this report.
