ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hosting its first American League Championship Series since 2008, Tropicana Field, the oft-maligned home of the Tampa Bay Rays, was ready to rock Monday.
Although it wasn’t as packed as it was during the ALDS against the Yankees, the Trop still seemed quite full and was definitely quite loud. It was clear that the fan base recognized what this team had been building towards all year and was eager to cheer their efforts for a World Series berth. Only a Cleveland Guardians team – a team that won 13 fewer games than Tampa Bay in the regular season and just survived a five-game battle with the White Sox – stood in their way. The start of this best-of-seven series seems heavily tilted in favor of the Rays.
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At first, that’s how it happened. The Rays jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, giving ace Drew Rasmussen an instant advantage. And Rasmussen — who had no hits in the eighth inning against the Yankees in the ALDS — seemed to improve as the evening progressed. The score remained 2-0 on five occasions.
But from there, the Guardians gradually took control and eventually silenced the heartbreaking echoes that echoed around the Tampa Bay Dome. As Cleveland put the finishing touches on its stunning 7-3 victory in Game 1 of the ALCS, Rays fans turned up the volume one last time, but for a very different reason: to boo the elated Guardians fans whose chants serenading José Ramírez had pierced the quiet.
After the Rays’ strong start Monday, momentum began to shift in the visitors’ favor in the bottom of the fifth inning, when rookie reliever Daniel Espino needed just 14 pitches to strike out Tampa Bay’s top three hitters in order. Yandy Diaz whiffed three straight four-seamers — 97.9 mph, then 98.3, then 99.1 — at the top of the zone. Jonathan Aranda had no chance against Espino’s slider. Junior Caminero came up empty three times hacking 99 mph off radiators. It was a captivating relief outing, and it boosted the confidence in the Cleveland dugout.
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To make matters worse, when Rasmussen returned to the mound to start the sixth, he was greeted by one hell of a swing from Chase DeLauter. Cleveland’s rookie right fielder jumped on a four-seam first pitch and hit it just over the left-field fence for his first career postseason homer and first opposite-field homer since May 3. Cleveland had Rasmussen working early in the innings – his pitch count had climbed to 80 before DeLauter came to the plate – and finally, they were on the board.
“A guy like that, who has a few different fastballs, preaches getting ahead early…getting the first pitch in the zone prepares the pitchers,” DeLauter said of Cleveland’s game plan against Rasmussen, who scored on a first pitch against the first nine batters he faced. “So whenever we get a good pitch over the plate and we can hit it forward and see what happens, I think that’s a good approach.”
An inning later, catcher Patrick Bailey followed DeLauter in executing this approach. Rays manager Kevin Cash stayed with Rasmussen to face the bottom of Cleveland’s order in the seventh. It was a well-deserved show of confidence in one of the best starting pitchers in the American League – but it immediately backfired.
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Bailey singled on a Rasmussen changeup in the second, then struck out after a high fastball in the fourth. In their third meeting, he pounced on a first-pitch cutter and launched it 436 feet to right-center field for a tying home run.
“He was aggressive in the zone, attacking us with those three heaters,” Bailey said afterward. “He was there tonight. I think we were just able to take advantage of some dropped pitches above the plate.”
With that, Rasmussen’s evening was over. But the Guardians were just getting started.
Tyler Wells took the ball for Tampa Bay in the eighth, making his first appearance since September 12; he finished the regular season on the injured list and did not pitch against the Yankees in the final round. Against him, Ramírez and DeLauter had a single and a double, and Jo Adell grounded.
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Next, Cash went to left-hander Ian Seymour to face left-handed first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. It’s a scenario that has often prompted Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt to counter with a right-handed hitter such as David Fry. But Vogt stuck with veteran Lowe, and he came through with a goal down the middle to drive in Ramírez and DeLauter to make it 4-2 for the Keepers.
“It was huge for us,” Adell said of Lowe’s clutch shot. “Just a big momentum shift towards the end. And we kept our foot on the gas throughout.”
More damage followed in the ninth. With Cole Sulser on the mound, a runner on open second and first base, the Rays elected to throw to Ramírez with the dangerous DeLauter on deck. Ramírez quickly clipped a cutter to left field for his third hit of the game and the Guardians’ fifth run. After DeLauter walked, Adell punctuated the Guardians’ big night at the plate with a double that scored Ramírez and DeLauter to make it 7-3 Cleveland.
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It held until the end, as closer Cade Smith reached the ninth on six pitches.
When the Guardians visited Tropicana Field in July, they were swept, extending their losing streak to a season-high five games. In this series, they only managed 13 hits and three total runs and were shut out in the last two games. It was the kind of discouraging offensive performance that suggested the lineup needed a boost if the Guardians wanted to make any noise down the stretch.
A week later, Cleveland acquired Adell and Lowe in the hours before the trade deadline.
On Monday, those two pickups — along with another trade acquisition in Bailey, made in a May trade — were front and center as the Guardians won Game 1 on the road and stunned the top-seeded Rays enough for the “José!” songs to resonate in Tampa.
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