Tampa Bay is going back to the World Series. The Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, closing out the series four games to two and claiming their first pennant since 2020.
The win at Tropicana Field capped a comeback that started after falling behind two games to one in the series. Tampa Bay won the final three games, and will now face the Milwaukee Brewers with Game 1 scheduled for Friday night in Milwaukee.
Late homers break it open
Tampa Bay struck first. Richie Palacios ripped a two-run double in the second inning to put the Rays up 2-0, and Jonny DeLuca added a sacrifice fly an inning later for a 3-0 lead. Cleveland trimmed it to 3-1 in the sixth, but the Rays answered the way they have all October.
Junior Caminero crushed a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 5-1, his first career postseason home run according to reports. After Cleveland rallied for two runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-3, Yandy Diaz answered with a two-run shot of his own to restore the cushion at 7-3. Closer Bryan Baker then retired the side in order in the ninth to seal it.
Freddy Peralta earned the win with five and one-third gritty innings, and was named the ALCS Most Valuable Player after giving up just one run across 12 innings in three appearances in the series, according to reports.
A Fall Classic 44 years in the making
The matchup is a historic one. Milwaukee, which swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, is back in the World Series for the first time since 1982. Tampa Bay is making its third trip, after 2008 and 2020, and is still chasing the first championship in franchise history.
It is the first World Series since 1980 in which both clubs are seeking their first title, a quirk that guarantees baseball will crown a first-time champion. The Brewers finished with a major league best 103 wins, while Tampa Bay won 98, and Milwaukee took two of three when the teams met in the opening week of the regular season.
For Cleveland, the loss extends a championship drought that now stretches 78 years. “I could not be more proud of our group,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said, according to reports. “It just hurts. It stings.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash kept it simple: “We got one more bite,” he told his players, according to reports.
