The Rays have taken control of the ALCS after winning two of three games on the road at Progressive Field.
Tampa Bay leads Cleveland, 3-2, in the best-of-seven series. The Rays return to Tropicana Field with home field advantage and the momentum, pitching depth and timely hitting to make it happen.
All they need to reach the World Series is one more win.
Here are my scores from the Rays’ 3-1 Game 5 win:
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Three elbow surgeries and a lot of hard work and flawless execution later, Rays ace Drew Rasmussen has continued to be dominant when his team needs him most.
Again, in Sunday’s crucial game against the Guardians, Rasmussen was the nail. He held Cleveland to seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out six. Of the 21 outs he recorded, 11 of them were on the ground, showing how much he trusts his defense to help him. When trouble came in the seventh inning after Guardians first baseman Nathaniel Lowe led off with a single, Rasmussen expertly got out of it with a walk and a double play to end the threat. He never panicked.
Especially in the face of great pressure and heightened tension, Rasmussen does not blink.
The 31-year-old has a 1.29 ERA (three earned runs in 21 innings) in three postseason starts this October. That includes when he pitched a no-hitter in the eighth inning of ALDS Game 1 against the Yankees. Going even further into the regular season, from August 24th through the start of Sunday’s Game 5 of the ALCS, Rasmussen owns an incredible 1.38 ERA over his last nine starts this year.
2. Tampa Bay can beat you in multiple ways
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The Rays finally have legitimate big bats, with Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz, to beat their opponents in overwhelming ways. This addition of hitting, mostly from the bat of Caminero, who hit 42 home runs in the regular season, has nicely complemented their always excellent hitting depth and clean defense, and hitting homers was one of the main reasons they were able to run the table and lead the AL East all year.
But in Game 5, the Rays didn’t need to hit it out of the ballpark to beat the Guardians. Instead, they relied on other effective strategies — like being excellent decision-makers against Cleveland’s talented rookie right-hander Parker Messick.
The Rays loaded the bases against Messick in the top of the first after a leadoff double by Diaz, a one-out walk by Ryan Vilade and a two-out single by Chandler Simpson. When he met player no. 6, Jonny DeLuca, to find a way to get through early for Tampa, all he had to do was shoulder the bat. Messick threw him changeups, fastballs, a sinker, and DeLuca wouldn’t bite. Finally, on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, DeLuca took ball four and forced in Tampa Bay’s first walk of the game on a bases-loaded walk.
One by one, the Rays continued to add. Three more base hits in the second inning led to their second run of the game. Messick was ejected from his start after just two innings. Simpson led off from third with a double to right. He immediately stole third base and scored on Liam Hicks’ single to center. The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Rasmussen taking over and holding the Guardians at bay.
Rays can defeat you in many ways. It’s their patience and composure at the plate. It is their elite ability to hit the bat with the ball once they reach a pitch to hit. When they get on the baserunners, they can run. It’s their speed, their impact, their focus and relentless pressure that make it exhausting to play against their formation.
3. Cleveland is backed into a corner … Again
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The Rangers lost two of three at home and now face elimination in Tampa. They will need to win the rest of the series if they want to advance to the World Series. Sound familiar? Maybe this is exactly where they wanted to be.
They have already done the impossible once this October. Why not one more time?
The Guardians became the first team in franchise history to rally from an 0-2 series deficit when they beat the White Sox in a decisive Game 5 of the ALDS. Now they must do it again, with the odds favoring the Rays at Tropicana Field, the building where they are most dangerous. The Rays had the best home record (55-26, .679 winning percentage) among all major league teams this season. It was their first year back at the Trop after Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of the stadium in October 2024.
Cleveland suffered some atypical defensive mistakes in Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS, including two errors by usually safe third baseman Jose Ramirez, which highlighted how difficult it is for opposing teams to play comfortably on the Tropicana field. Plus, the Rays took five of six at home in the regular season against Cleveland. However, the Guardians managed to win Game 1 of this series on the road, so it’s not all doom and gloom for the Cleveland faithful.
3 ½. What’s next?
The Guardians’ best hope of tying the series at 3-3 rests with right-hander Gavin Williams, who was able to hold the Rays to two runs in five innings his last time out in Game 3 on Thursday. Williams struck out nine Tampa Bay batters and allowed just one walk in that stellar outing, helping the Guardians win the game. Williams has been outstanding for Cleveland this October, posting a 2.16 ERA in five games (four starts) and 16 ⅔ innings.
