Guardians Stay Hot: 3 Takeaways From Cleveland's ALCS Game 1 Upset Win vs. Rays

TROPICANA Field (St. Petersburg, Fla.) — Talk about an upset. Facing the Tampa Bay Rays, the best team in the American League, it was the tough and tired Cleveland Guardians who came through and remarkably took Game 1 of the ALCS with a 7-3 win on Monday night at Tropicana Field. The odds were against them after going the distance in the ALDS. Cleveland spent all its energy storming back from the brink of elimination against the White Sox, only to still have some fight left in the tank. No matter that Tampa Bay’s indomitable ace was on the mound. No matter that the Rays were recharged after four days off following their sweep of the Yankees. No matter that Tropicana Field was rocking with a sold-out crowd waving yellow towels and creating extra pressure. The Guardians, on the strength of their MVP-caliber stars, stole Game 1 on the road. Here are my takeaways: The Guardians were waiting for their unofficial team captain, Jose Ramirez, to make some noise all night. If their epic comeback in the ALDS was any indication, these Guardians go as Ramirez goes. He finally got his moment and started a rally when he led off the top of the eighth inning with a hustling infield single to Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, who tried and failed to barehand the grounder. Ramirez reached first base safely with the spark that Cleveland needed to get going. Guardians rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter picked up where Ramirez left off by lacing a double to right field off Rays right-hander Tyler Wells. Suddenly, after catcher Patrick Bailey tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth on a solo homer, the Guardians had the go-ahead runs in scoring position. First baseman Nathaniel Lowe, acquired by Cleveland at the trade deadline for his postseason experience, delivered when his team needed him the most. Lowe ripped a single up the middle, past Tampa Bay’s diving infielders and into center field, scoring Ramirez and DeLauter and completing yet another epic comeback just two days after their last one. "It's hard to hit solo homers and win games," Lowe said after the win. "And the guys that did it tonight deserve all the credit for doing it, for keeping us in the game. But when we build momentum, the way that we play, when runners get into scoring position, it's when we can capitalize. I'm so thankful that I'm the guy that got to do it first tonight." Cleveland scored seven of the game's last eight runs between DeLauter’s solo shot in the sixth, Bailey’s game-tying homer in the seventh, Lowe’s two-run single in the eighth, and Jo Adell’s two-run double in the ninth to put them over the edge with a 7-3 lead over the Rays. This would have been unthinkable just days ago, when the Guardians trailed the White Sox two games to none in the ALDS before clawing back, winning the series and advancing to the ALCS. The Rays seemed stunned. The Guardians put on a show and reminded us why they shouldn’t be. "That's a very good team over there," Rays manager Kevin Cash said of the Guards. "They put a lot of pressure on pitchers and can foul balls off and lengthen out at-bats. And then you add the component that they're good hitters." Cash is one of this year’s favorites to win the American League Manager of the Year award. It would be his third time receiving the honor, and the first time since he won it back-to-back in 2020 and 2021, pointing to his consistency and longevity as one of the game’s best skippers. That being said, Cash’s decision to leave his ace on the mound for one more batter won’t make it onto his career highlight reel. Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen was dominant against the Guardians on Monday, though not as untouchable as he was against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS. Rasmussen had limited Cleveland to one run through six solid innings, with his only blemish up to that point coming on a DeLauter home run to lead off the sixth inning. He had racked up seven strikeouts and did not allow a walk. It was everything the Rays could’ve asked from their ace. After the top of the sixth inning was over, Rasmussen was walking around in the Rays dugout like his night was over. There were two relievers warming up while the Rays batted in the bottom of the inning. Especially with Tampa Bay’s well-rested bullpen, since they swept the Yankees in the ALDS and haven’t played a game since Wednesday, it seemed like the ideal time to end Rasmussen’s night. But Cash got greedy in a tight one-run game. The Rays were leading the Guardians, 2-1, and Cash went back to Rasmussen for the top of the seventh inning to try and preserve their lead. Rasmussen picked a bad time to throw his worst pitch of the night: a hanging cutter. Instead of burying it in on the hands, he missed his target and threw it up and in the middle to Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey, who crushed it 436 feet to center field for a game-tying solo home run. Though it was one batter too late, Cash promptly removed Rasmussen from the game, his mistake evident in the tens of thousands of fans who were silent as their ace walked back to the dugout with his tail between his legs. After the loss, Cash indicated he would’ve let Rasmussen finish the seventh inning if not for the Bailey home run. "A little bit," Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan said when I asked if he was surprised Rasmussen came back out for the seventh inning. "But that’s more a reflection of today’s baseball climate as opposed to how he was doing. You have an ace. You want to ride him out as long as possible. But I’m happy with that. I like that decision." The Rays didn’t waste any time giving the Guardians a headache, and it might have hurt them more knowing which players did the early damage. Rays designated hitter Yandy Diaz, who on Tuesday will set the franchise record for the most games played in the postseason (31), was all over Guardians left-hander Foster Griffin in the first inning. Diaz, leading off as usual, ripped a 114.6 mph double to left field to set the table for the big boppers behind him. Slugger Jonathan Aranda surprised everyone by putting down a perfect sacrifice bunt that advanced Diaz, 90 feet from home plate. Then Junior Caminero smacked an RBI single to left, and just three batters into the bottom of the first, the Rays had a 1-0 lead. Call it retribution. Diaz played for Cleveland from 2017-18, though he only played in 88 games in that two-year span. Before the 2019 season, Diaz was part of a three-team trade that sent him to Tampa Bay, where he played mostly at third base until Caminero took over in 2023. Caminero signed as a free agent with Cleveland in 2019. He was traded to the Rays in 2021 for right-handed pitcher Tobias Myers, and Caminero finally made his major-league debut in 2023 as one of the Rays’ highly-touted top prospects. "Thank you to Cleveland for making me a professional," Diaz said through an interpreter ahead of Game 1 on Monday. "I started my career there. I signed my first pro contract there. But also, I'm happy with the way things worked out. I'm happy that I was traded over here to Tampa Bay, in my opinion, the best organization in the league. I've made my career here. So that's something I'm really proud of." The Guardians, who were stymied by the Rays early, remembered that they didn’t need two big boppers like Diaz and Caminero in their lineup. They had their own way of manufacturing power. 3 ½. What’s next? It will be Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta versus Guardians left-hander Parker Messick for Game 2 of the ALCS on Tuesday. Peralta, who said he prepared for the Guardians to be "very disciplined at the plate," will try to set the tone with a much-needed win for Tampa Bay before the team goes on the road for Game 3. Messick, who has a 5.40 postseason ERA after giving up four runs in two abbreviated starts against the White Sox in the ALDS, grew up in Orlando, Fla. The rookie southpaw went to high school in Plant City, which is about 45 minutes northeast of Tropicana FIeld, and he went to college at Florida State University. He’s expecting a large contingent of family members for his pivotal start on Tuesday. "Pretty large group of people coming," Messick said. "Mostly family. I know my hometown is throwing a little bit of a watch party. So that may keep a lot of people over there. It's going to be fun."