The Cleveland Guardians erased an early two-run deficit and then blew the game open late, scoring six unanswered runs over the final four innings to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey each homered off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen to tie the game in the sixth and seventh innings, and Nathaniel Lowe broke the tie for good with a two-run single in the eighth. Jose Ramirez added an RBI single off reliever Cole Sulser in the ninth, then forced a throwing mix-up by breaking for third on a two-strike pitch to Jo Adell; Adell's grounder skipped past a confused infield for a two-run double that pushed the margin to four. Cleveland finished with 14 hits in the full box score, and Ramirez had three hits while DeLauter was a triple short of the cycle.
Tampa Bay had jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning on RBI singles from Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca, and Rasmussen protected that lead into the sixth, allowing only one hit over his first five innings. The two-time All-Star, coming off a start against the New York Yankees in which he carried a no-hitter into the eighth, finished with eight hits allowed and seven strikeouts over six innings before departing after Bailey's homer. Cedric Mullins added a solo home run for Tampa Bay in the bottom of the eighth.
Cleveland's bullpen outlasts Tampa Bay's
Cleveland starter Foster Griffin allowed two runs on five hits over four innings, and five Guardians relievers combined to blank Tampa Bay apart from Mullins' homer. Hunter Gaddis worked a scoreless seventh for the win, and Cade Smith, who had pitched in all five games of Cleveland's division series, tossed a perfect ninth. On the other side, reliever Tyler Wells surrendered the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth and was charged with the loss, and Cole Sulser allowed three more runs in the ninth.
Monday's result extended Cleveland's winning streak to four games. The Guardians dropped the first two games of their division series against the Chicago White Sox before winning three straight to advance, and they carried that momentum into St. Petersburg against a Rays team that had won five of six regular-season meetings between the clubs. Tampa Bay, in its third ALCS appearance in 29 seasons, entered as the American League's top seed and had not lost since sweeping the Yankees in its own division series.
A crowd of 35,361 waved rally towels and rang cowbells at Tropicana Field as the Rays tried to carry that momentum into the ALCS. Tampa Bay helped Rasmussen along with sharp defense early, including a caught-stealing of Ramirez at second in the first inning and a diving stop by second baseman Ben Williamson that erased a potential DeLauter hit in the third. Shortstop Taylor Walls went hitless in three at-bats and left six runners on base, including a bases-loaded strikeout to end the first.
Reaction
Lowe, who spent parts of his career with Tampa Bay before a World Series run with Texas, pointed to the uneven start to Cleveland's postseason as motivation for the turnaround.
"We had to go get our backs against the wall and do something crazy, and this group did. It's nice to feel some momentum coming here and to take Game 1."
— Nathaniel Lowe, Guardians first baseman
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt credited his pitching staff for keeping Cleveland within range after the early deficit, giving the lineup time to come alive.
"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."
— Stephen Vogt, Guardians manager
Rays manager Kevin Cash said he expected his team, which hadn't lost in nearly three weeks, to bounce back quickly.
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night back at Tropicana Field, with Cleveland sending rookie left-hander Parker Messick to the mound against Tampa Bay right-hander Freddy Peralta. The Guardians will look to take a 2-0 series lead before the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 later this week.
