Tampa Bay Rays Defeat Cleveland Guardians to Reach World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 on Monday night in St. Petersburg to win the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series.

Freddy Peralta pitched 5.1 innings and allowed one run and five hits, earning series most valuable player honors in front of a sellout crowd of 40,230 fans at Tropicana Field.

The victory sets up a matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers starting Friday in Milwaukee, guaranteeing that a franchise seeking its first championship will claim the title.

"We got one more bite!" said Kevin Cash, the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, as the clubhouse celebration started.

Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz each hit two-run home runs to power the Tampa Bay offense, while Richie Palacios contributed a two-run double in the second inning.

Cleveland cut the lead to 5-3 in the eighth inning and loaded the bases before relief pitcher Kevin Kelly struck out Brayan Rocchio to end the threat.

"I couldn’t be more proud of our group," said Stephen Vogt, the manager of the Cleveland Guardians. "It just hurts. It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go and just weren’t able to get there."

Closer Bryan Baker pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure the final three outs and seal the pennant for Tampa Bay.

"Yandy had a claim to back and he did his part," said Erik Neander, the president of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, regarding Díaz guaranteeing a victory.

"I’m very happy to be here, to be part of this great group and this great organization," said Freddy Peralta, the starting pitcher.

The loss extended the championship drought for Cleveland to 78 years, while the Rays returned to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2020.

Game 1 of the World Series takes place on Friday in Milwaukee between the two teams that finished the regular season with the best records in their respective leagues.