A thrilling win to sweep!
The Rays are once again in the ALCS after an improbable 5-4 win over Cleveland at Tropicana Field to pull off the sweep of the Guardians. Tampa Bay looked dead and buried in this one early when Cleveland jumped on
Joe Ryan for 4 runs and Guardians starter Aaron Civale was no-hitting the Rays through 4 2/3. But
Heston Kjerstad started the comeback with a solo homer off Civale for their first hit in the 5th, and he later got the Rays level with an RBI single in the 8th. While Ryan struggled,
Tarik Skubal did yeoman's work out of the pen with 3 scoreless innings to hold Cleveland in the check and the bullpen combined for 6 2/3 scoreless. Finally the breakthrough came in the 12th.
Jarren Duran singled to lead off the inning,
Wander Franco doubled him to 3rd, but
Brandon Lowe grounded to 2nd and Duran was cut down at the plate.
Adley Rutschman then came up and grounded another one to 2nd but this time the throw home was dropped by Cleveland catcher Bo Naylor and Franco scored the game and series-winner.
Elsewhere, the two remaning DSes came to an end:
The Rays will face the Angels in the ALCS for the fourth straight season with the Angels beating the Rays in 6 in both 2022 and 2024 while the Rays won in 5 in 2023 on their way to a World Series win. Meanwhile Atlanta will take on surprising St. Louis in the NLCS.