Rays Beat Guardians 3-1 in ALCS Game 5, Move One Win From World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays are one win from the World Series after beating the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Progressive Field.

Tampa Bay leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Rasmussen gets his do-over

Drew Rasmussen went seven innings. He allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out six on 95 pitches.

The Guardians had no runner in scoring position until the sixth. Cleveland got two hits that inning and cut the lead to 3-1 when Steven Kwan scored on a Chase DeLauter groundout.

Then came the seventh. Nathaniel Lowe led off with a single, and Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder came out to talk with Rasmussen, who was at 84 pitches. Rasmussen retired Travis Bazzana on a foul popout, then faced catcher Patrick Bailey with the tying run at the plate.

That matchup had a history. In Game 1, Rasmussen stayed in to face Bailey with a 2-1 lead, and Bailey hit a game-tying homer in what became a 7-3 Guardians win. This time Rasmussen got a groundball double play on a changeup and walked off the mound screaming.

"He's an ace, it's as simple as that," Rays catcher Liam Hicks said. "He rises to the occasion and no moment is ever too big for him."

Manager Kevin Cash said of the outing: "The way he limited anything was really, really impressive."

The 31-year-old right-hander has come back from three major arm surgeries. He now has a 1.29 ERA with three walks and 23 strikeouts over 21 playoff innings.

Tampa Bay scores early, bullpen finishes

The Rays did their damage in the first three innings against Cleveland rookie Parker Messick. Yandy Díaz opened the game with a 109.2 mph double. Messick then loaded the bases and walked Jonny DeLuca to force in the first run.

Jonathan Aranda drove in a run with a single in the second. Hicks added an RBI single in the third for a 3-0 lead.

Messick lasted two innings and 57 pitches. He allowed five hits and walked two. The 25-year-old rookie had never thrown more than 138⅓ innings in a season, and he passed 200 on the final out of the second. Cleveland was left to piece together a bullpen game.

The Rays bullpen handled the last six outs. Bryan Baker closed it out in the ninth after a leadoff walk, picking up his 35th consecutive save.

A series that turned on the weather

Tampa Bay trailed 2-1 after three games, and its offense had not scored more than three runs in any of them. A Friday rainout pushed Game 4 to Saturday, and the Rays' bats woke up to level the series.

The delay compressed the schedule. There is no travel day, so the teams are set to play four games in four days if the series goes to a Game 7. Tuesday would be the date for that.

That favors the team with the shorter path. Tampa Bay needs one win in two home games. Cleveland has to win both on the road after an offense that managed one run on Sunday.

What a win means

A Rays victory sends them to their third World Series, after losses in 2008 and 2020. They are one of five MLB teams that have never won a championship.

Waiting is Milwaukee. The Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS and are headed to their first World Series in 44 years. Their manager, Pat Murphy, said of the Dodgers' star-studded roster: "They got a bunch of Hall of Famers, we got a bunch of gamers." Brewers first baseman Bauers was named NLCS MVP. Milwaukee is also looking for its first championship.

The Guardians' season now rests on Monday night. If they win Game 6, the series goes to a deciding Game 7 on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Tropicana Field.