Category: Sports News

Rays beat Guardians 7-3 and earn a trip to the World Series originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Freddy Peralta threw 5 1/3 gritty innings, Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz each hit a two-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night to advance to the World Series for the third time in the franchise’s 29 seasons.

The Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the first matchup in which both teams are seeking their first World Series title since 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals.

Game 1 is Friday night in Milwaukee.

“We got one more bite!” Rays manager Kevin Cash told his team as the clubhouse celebration started.

The loss extended Cleveland’s World Series championship drought to 78 years.

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

On the 18-year anniversary of their first AL pennant in 2008, the Rays jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning on Richie Palacios’ two-run double and clinched it with closer Bryan Baker on the mound.

The Guardians wouldn’t give up and had the go-ahead run at first base in the eighth when Kevin Kelly struck out Brayan Rocchio to leave the bases loaded after two runs scored.

Peralta, the ALCS MVP, allowed one run and five hits to earn his second win of the series in his third appearance. He pitched six scoreless innings to win Game 2 and got two outs in relief in Game 4.

A sellout crowd of 40,230 fans waved yellow-and-blue rally towels, rang cowbells and chanted “Let’s go Rays!” throughout the night at Tropicana Field, which needed major renovations after Hurricane Milton shredded the roof two years ago and caused extensive damage throughout the stadium.

The Rays played their 2025 home games across the bay in Tampa at the New York Yankees’ spring training complex, got new ownership before this season and secured a new stadium deal to bear ready in 2029 near the NFL’s Buccaneers. They returned to the Trop to win 55 games in the regular season. Only the Brewers had that many home wins this year.

“This is for you!” Caminero yelled to the crowd from a microphone on the field after the game. “Let’s go! I can’t hear you!”

After sweeping the Yankees in the Division Series, the Rays fell behind the Guardians 0-1 and 1-2 in this series before taking three straight games.

Caminero gave Tampa Bay a cushion with his first career postseason homer in the seventh inning. The two-time All-Star sent a drive off the left-field foul pole to give the Rays a 5-1 lead, becoming the first player to go deep on a splitter by All-Star closer Cade Smith.

Caminero turned around before reaching first base, looked toward his dugout and pounded his chest with both arms, cupped his ear rounding second to hear more cheers, stopped before reaching the plate, pointed into the stands and crossed his arms before crossing home.

Caminero hit 42 homers in the regular season but needed 33 at-bats to get his first in October.

The Guardians answered against Tyler Wells and Ian Seymour by loading the bases on two singles and a walk with two outs. Seymour walked Patrick Bailey to force in one run and hit Angel Martínez with a pitch to force in another. Kelly entered and fanned Rocchio on three changeups.

“Credit to our guys. It’s a gut punch there in the seventh. And our guys came right back,” Vogt said. “Our guys never quit. They never stopped fighting. That’s who they are.”

Díaz, who guaranteed a Game 6 victory through an interpreter on Sunday, gave the Rays another four-run lead with a two-run shot off Hunter Gaddis in the bottom of the eighth.

Caminero led off the Tampa Bay second with single off opener Shawn Armstrong, who took the loss in his second start in three games. Left-hander Tim Herrin replaced Armstrong. Chandler Simpson reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second before Victor Mesa Jr. walked. Simpson advanced to third on Jonny DeLuca’s flyout to center. After Mesa stole second, Palacios looped a double to right-center for a 2-0 lead.

Armstrong, who was the opener in Game 4, faced the first four batters, becoming the first pitcher in postseason history to start a game after pitching both of the previous two days.

DeLuca’s sacrifice fly off Joey Cantillo made it 3-0 in the third but the Rays missed an opportunity to break it open with more runs after they loaded the bases with no outs.

Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the sixth drove in Cleveland’s first run.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The NPB’s Hanshin Tigers accepted Teruaki Sato’s posting request, ever-so-slightly increasing the likelihood of giving the third baseman a new home in the Bronx.

The Japanese Triple Crown winner is now officially available to pursue MLB contracts, and the Yankees are one of many teams interested in his talents. Sato finished the regular season batting .306 with a .383 OBP and .991 OPS. The slugger also recorded 39 home runs, just short of his career-high 40 last season, and totaled 106 RBIs. It’s hard not to dream about the lefty hitter’s swing in Yankee Stadium.

Envisioning the Yankees’ lineup for next season, Sato could make a great fit in the middle of the order. Keeping the power hitters at the top, including Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, and Cody Bellinger (in no particular order), it’s easy to visualize Sato batting cleanup or at fifth. His tenacity could be just what the Yankees need to build off the heavy hitters’ momentum and be unstoppable at the plate. Too often last year, New York had to settle for the slumping Jazz Chisholm Jr. or rookies Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. in the five-hole. Even if he’s not chosen to be the primary cleanup hitter, Sato would slot in nicely there as well, easing the pressure on the youngsters and lengthening the lineup.

In addition to adding some power to the Yankees’ offense, Sato could solve the Yankees’ constant frustrations at the hot corner. Ryan McMahon, José Caballero, and Anthony Volpe are the current options. None really emerged as a reliable everyday starter, as Volpe shifted from shortstop to second base (before sampling third very late in the game) and the trio of McMahon, Caballero, and Amed Rosario alternated — often committing costly errors that put the Yankees in tough spots. McMahon’s offense was lackluster at best, finishing the regular season among the top 20 worst hitters in the league, batting .213 with a .279 OBP and 78 wRC+. A career lefty-killer, Rosario too often came up empty against southpaws, and likely won’t be back after becoming a free agent. Caballero occasionally managed to give the Yankees a boost offensively, but his defense gave Boone enough pause to bench him for the majority of the postseason.

It’s worth noting that while Sato won the NPB equivalent of Gold Glove at third in 2025, MLB.com’s Max Ralph noted that “there are some concerns about his long-term fit on the infield.” If Sato can even be acceptable there, that would be enough. His bat alone already makes him a much more enticing possibility than McMahon, Caballero, or Volpe.

The Yankees should try every avenue to bring Sato to New York, as he’d be a great addition to the middle of the order. They will surely need someone like Sato as another offensive weapon to supplement their core, in addition to the kind of defensive skills to keep any opposing teams at bay.

Another brilliant start by Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen carried the Rays to victory in a decisive Game 5 in Cleveland that put the Rays in the driver’s seat as the series comes home to Tampa. The Guardians now face back-to-back elimination games, and while they should have ace Gavin Williams going on short rest on Tuesday, if they get there, the Guardians will be trying to piece together another bullpen game out of depth starters and their heavily taxed relief corps just to survive on Monday.

Tasked with taking them down will be right-hander Freddy Peralta, and it would be pretty fitting if it was Peralta carrying the Rays into a World Series matchup against the club he’s spent most of his career with, the Milwaukee Brewers. Peralta signed a free agent deal with the Mets last offseason, only to be moved to Tampa at the deadline after a rough first half. As they do, the Rays helped him clean up his mechanics and get back to form, producing a pretty strong finish to the season in September. Even so, Peralta is not fully back to being the strikeout artist he’s been his whole career. The Rays are unlikely to get seven innings of zero or one-run ball out of him against a very scrappy and desperate Guardians lineup.

RHP Shawn Armstrong (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA) at Tropicana Field, 8:08 p.m. ET on TBS.

Rays lineup

Yandy Diaz – DH
Jonathan Aranda – 1B
Liam Hicks – C
Junior Caminero – 3B
Chandler Simpson – LF
Victor Mesa – RF
Jonny DeLuca – CF
Richie Palacios – 2B
Taylor Walls – SS

Freddy Peralta – RHP

Guardians lineup

Steven Kwan – LF
Jose Ramirez – 3B
Chase DeLauter – RF
Jo Adell – DH
Nathaniel Lowe – 1B
Travis Bazzana – 2B
Patrick Bailey – C
Petey Halpin – CF
Brayan Rocchio – SS

Tanner Bibee – RHP

Broadcast info

Time: 8:00 PM EDT
TV: TBS/HBO Max

The Mets are scheduled to speak with Kevin Long about a position on the coaching staff, according to a report Monday evening by the New York Post's Mike Puma.

Long, 59, was most recently spent 2022-26 as the Philadelphia Phillies' hitting coach.

His MLB hitting coach stints include the Yankees (2007-14), Mets (2015-17) and Washington Nationals (2018-21).

Among those tenures, he helped the Yankees (2009) and Nationals (2019) win the World Series.

With the Nationals, Long mentored a young Juan Soto, now the Mets' prized slugger, during the first leg of Soto's career in Washington (2018-22).

Long's time as the Mets' hitting coach was under former manager Terry Collins, who led the team from 2011-17.

New manager Andy Green's coaching staff was among David Stearns' talking points during the president of baseball operations' Sept. 28 news conference.

"Andy and I are going to have conversations on that this week, and we'll get to a decision point here over the next week or so," Stearns said last month when asked about building out Green's 2027 coaching staff.

There is a little bit of baseball news:

• Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato is entering the ‘posting system’ this off-season. The story I read says that the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays are the likely landing spots. I don’t know how likely it is that the Jays will be after him, as he’s played mostly third base in his NPB career. He hit .306/.383/.609 with 39 home runs for Hanshin Tigers last year. The year before he had 40 home runs. Ok, sign him Rogers.
• And the Yankees say that Aaron Boone will return as manager next year. I didn’t think there was much doubt.

Rays are up 3-2 in the series. I don’t care who wins the series, but I’m cheering for Cleveland tonight, because I want a game seven.

Tonight’s lineup:

I’m going to post this early because I’ve got a couple of things to get done and odds are I’ll forget to post it.

With three games decided by two runs or fewer, the ALCS series has been very competitive this season.

The outliers are Game 1, when the Cleveland Guardians won 7-3, and Game 4 when the Tampa Bay Rays won 7-3. The Rays are averaging 3.6 runs per game in this playoff round, while the Guardians are just behind at 3 runs per game.

So it’s no wonder the series is going on much longer than the Milwaukee Brewers four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rays will have the advantage of home field tonight for Game 6, and they feel so confident that Yandy Díaz said, “it all ends tomorrow. We’re going to win tomorrow,” after the Tampa Bay beat the Guardians 3-1 in Cleveland on Sunday evening.

For Game 6, the Guardians are turning to RHP Shawn Armstrong, who has yet to give up a run in 7.2 innings over six appearances with six strikeouts this postseason, including a one-inning start against Tampa Bay in Game 4. Freddy Peralta will be on the mound for the Rays. Peralta was very effective against the Rays in Game 2 when he threw six scoreless innings, giving up four hits and two walks, while striking out six in a 3-1 victory.

Cleveland Guardians (2-3) at Tampa Bay Rays (3-2) — 6:08 PM MDT

Pitching Matchup: RHP Shawn Armstrong (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Freddy Peralta (2-3, 3.43 ERA)

SB Nation sites:DRaysBay | Covering the Corner

Radio: ESPN Radio

TV: TBS/HBO Max

Lineups:

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The American League Championship Series returns to the gulf coast of Florida on Monday night as the Tampa Bay Rays look to complete the series flip over the Cleveland Guardians.

Tampa took both games over the weekend up in northern Ohio after entering the weekend slate trailing two games to one within the series. Now, they’ll take the field at home in the Trop with Freddy Peralta on the mound and once again pitching like an ace with the opportunity to make it to the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on the docket.

Righty ‘reliever’ Shawn Armstrong will start for Cleveland in what will very clearly be an all-hands-on-deck bullpen game as they look to stave off elimination. First pitch is slated to be chucked by Peralta at 8:08 PM ET down in Tampa, with coverage of the game carried on TBS/truTV.

Here is how both clubs will line up to start:

The Tampa Bay Rays enter Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians one win away from capturing their third AL pennant.

After the teams split the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Tampa Bay, the Rays won two of three in Cleveland. A third consecutive victory would send the Rays to the World Series, where they would face the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers. The Guardians, however, are looking to stave off elimination and force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Tuesday.

Rays at Guardians (5:08 PM PST)

Looking to clinch the pennant in front of their home fans, Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta will make his third appearance and second start of the ALCS.

Peralta is the latest pitcher to benefit from Tampa Bay’s well-regarded coaching staff. The team’s signature trade deadline acquisition was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for September after allowing three runs in 34 innings over his final six regular-season starts.

The right-hander’s late-season success has carried over into the playoffs. Peralta earned the win in Game 2 of the series after allowing four hits over six scoreless innings. Three days later, he came out of the bullpen in Game 4 and recorded two key outs, stranding an inherited runner. Will Peralta post another quality start, or will the Guardians’ offense wake up with their season on the line?

Here’s Tampa’s starting nine for this one:

Meanwhile, Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams will not start on short rest. Cleveland will instead deploy a bullpen game, saving Williams for a potential Game 7.

Right-hander Shawn Armstrong will serve as the opener for the second time in three games. After Armstrong exits, Cleveland’s manager Stephen Vogt will likely rely on favorable matchups throughout the game, turning to his bullpen early and often to record the 27 outs needed to keep the Guardians’ season alive.

And Cleveland’s starting lineup for this anticipated contest:

Will the World Series matchup be settled today, or will the Brewers have to wait until Tuesday to learn their opponent? Who do you think will win?