(Best of seven)
- Game 1 – Guardians 7, Rays 3 (Cleveland leads series, 1-0)
- Game 2 – Tuesday at Tropicana Field, 8 p.m.
- Game 3 – Thursday at Cleveland, 6 p.m.
- Game 4 – Friday at Cleveland,6 p.m.
- Game 5 – Saturday at Cleveland (if necessary), 8 p.m.
- Game 6 – Monday at Tropicana Field (if necessary), 5 or 8 p.m.
- Game 7 – Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Tropicana Field (if necessary), 8 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: WDAE (95.7 FM/620 AM)
The Cleveland Guardians rallied in the later innings to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.
Game 2 is Tuesday night at 8 at Tropicana Field, where a crowd of 35,361 fans waved yellow rally towels and rang cowbells for the Rays’ third ALCS appearance in the franchise’s 29 season-history.
Cleveland's Nathaniel Lowe hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning, and Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit solo homers off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen as the Guardians rallied from a 2-0 deficit beginning in the sixth inning.
Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca had RBI singles in the first off Foster Griffin and Cedric Mullins hit a solo homer for the Rays, who never trailed in a sweep of the New York Yankees in their AL Division Series.
“It’s been a while since we lost, so I think that’s a good thing, and I know the guys will come back and respond tomorrow,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.
Five relievers combined for five innings of one-run, two-hit ball for the Guardians, who became only the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
“Obviously we came off an emotional series, had a quick turnaround. But these guys come ready to play every day. Couldn’t be more proud of them,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “We got punched early. And our pitching staff, credit to them, for stopping it and keeping us in the game as long as they did. And the offense came alive.”
The Rays allowed just 12 hits in three games against the Yankees but the Guardians got 14 in the series opener, including three apiece from Jose Ramírez and DeLauter.
Rasmussen took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before DeLauter led off with an opposite-field homer to left-center. Bailey started the seventh with a towering shot to center that went an estimated 436 feet, ending Rasmussen’s night.
Last week, Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees.
"I thought he was outstanding," Cash said. "I thought he threw an incredible ball game. You gotta give credit to Cleveland's lineup. They really put some pitches on him and some longer at-bats early on. But I felt like after the third or fourth inning, he really settled in. But Ras was awesome."
Ramírez led off the eighth with an infield single off Tyler Wells, and DeLauter ripped a double to right. After Wells retired Jo Adell on a grounder to second, Ian Seymour entered. Lowe lined an 0-2 pitch up the middle to drive in two, giving Cleveland a 4-2 lead.
Mullins connected for his homer off Erik Sabrowski in the bottom half to cut the Cleveland lead to one.
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Ramirez, whose two-run homer lifted Cleveland to a 2-0 win in Game 5 vs. Chicago, provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth off Cole Sulser. He helped the Guardians get two more by breaking for third with two outs and two strikes on Adell. Caminero ran to cover the bag and was out of position when Adell hit a sharp grounder toward third. The ball rolled into left field for a two-run double.
The Tropicana Field crowd was fired up when the 98-win Rays jumped ahead 2-0 in the first and Rasmussen battled to keep it there until the sixth.
Coming off that dominant performance against the Yankees, Rasmussen went six-plus tough innings. The two-time All-Star right-hander, who was four outs from a no-hitter in a 1-0 victory against New York, allowed a hit to the second batter he faced and eight total, striking out seven.
Griffin allowed two runs and five hits in four innings.
Cade Smith, who pitched in all five games against Chicago, tossed a perfect ninth.
The scheduled starters for Game 2 are Cleveland rookie left-hander Parker Messick and Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta.
Messick took the loss in Game 1 of the ALDS, allowing two runs in 4⅓ innings. He threw 2⅓ innings in relief in a Game 4 victory, giving up two runs. Messick had 11 strikeouts in the two appearances. He was 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA in the regular season.
Peralta allowed one run and three hits over 4⅔ innings in Game 2 of the ALDS. He was 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts after joining Tampa Bay at the trade deadline. Peralta was 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA for the Mets this season.
The ALCS winner will face the winner of the National League Championship Series in the World Series, which begins Oct. 23. The Milwaukee Brewers hold a 2-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with Game 3 on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
