Rays Beat Guardians 7-3 to Win AL Pennant, Reach World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field, winning the series four games to two and taking the American League pennant. The Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series.

Tampa Bay built its lead early. Steven Kwan led off the game with a single, but Freddy Peralta retired the next three batters and then six in a row. Richie Palacios doubled home Victor Mesa Jr. and Chandler Simpson with two outs in the second inning, off reliever Tim Herrin, and the Rays loaded the bases again before Matt Festa retired Jonathan Aranda to end the inning. Jonny DeLuca added a sacrifice fly in the third for a 3-0 lead, though Tampa Bay had the bases loaded with nobody out in that inning and came away with only the one run.

Peralta held Cleveland to one run over five and a third innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out three. The only run against him came in the sixth, when Chase DeLauter doubled and Nathaniel Lowe singled him home, and Cam Booser took over from there.

Junior Caminero stretched the lead in the seventh with a two run home run that scored Liam Hicks, making it 5-1. Caminero finished with two hits, two runs scored and two driven in.

Cleveland made the eighth inning uncomfortable. With two outs, the Guardians loaded the bases against Tyler Wells and Ian Seymour, and two runs scored without a hit: Patrick Bailey walked with the bases full, and Angel Martinez was hit by a pitch with the bases full. Kevin Kelly came in and struck out Brayan Rocchio to end the inning with the score 5-3.

Yandy Diaz answered in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a two run home run off Hunter Gaddis after Taylor Walls walked, and Bryan Baker pitched a perfect ninth inning to close the game. Baker retired Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez and DeLauter in order. Before the game, Rays manager Kevin Cash had called Baker the best closer in baseball this season, and the ninth inning showed why.

A first time champion is guaranteed

The pennant is Tampa Bay's third, after 2008 and 2020, and the club is still chasing its first World Series title. The Rays came into existence in 1998, lost the 2008 World Series to Philadelphia in five games and the 2020 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and will have home field advantage in the World Series. The Brewers have never won a title either, so Major League Baseball is guaranteed a first time champion in 2026: the Rays and Brewers are two of the five teams that have never won the World Series, USA Today reported.

World Series schedule

Game 1 is Friday, Oct. 23 in Milwaukee, at 8 p.m. Eastern, and Game 2 follows there on Saturday, Oct. 24. The series moves to Tampa Bay for Game 3 on Monday, Oct. 26, Game 4 on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and Game 5, if needed, on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Games 6 and 7, if needed, are back in Milwaukee on Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31.