Rookie outfielder Petey Halpin hit a go-ahead, two-run home run as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 3 on Thursday night, pushing Cleveland ahead 2-1 in the American League Championship Series.
The homer turned a tight, low-scoring game in Cleveland's favor and handed the Guardians their second win in three games, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers. Cleveland had won the series opener before Tampa Bay answered in Game 2, when Rays starter Freddy Peralta threw six innings of four-hit ball and Liam Hicks delivered a two-run single after a fielding error by Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, lifting the Rays to a 3-1 win that evened the series at a game apiece.
Thursday's game marked a return to form for a Cleveland club that had entered the series on the back of a strong September, when Halpin's three-run homer against the Chicago White Sox helped push the Guardians into first place in the American League Central. Right-hander Gavin Williams had been lined up to start Game 3 for Cleveland as the series shifted away from Tampa Bay for the first time.
With the win, the Guardians now need just two more victories to reach the World Series for the first time since 2016, while the Rays must find a way to slow a Cleveland offense that has gotten timely power from unexpected sources up and down the lineup. Halpin, a developing piece of the Guardians' outfield mix rather than an everyday fixture, has increasingly factored into big moments as October has worn on, giving Cleveland's lineup a dimension opponents have struggled to plan for.
Game 4 is set for Cleveland on Friday, with Tampa Bay looking to even the series again before it potentially shifts back to Florida for the back half of the series.