Drew Rasmussen gave Tampa Bay seven steady innings, and the Rays carried a 3-1 Game 5 win out of Cleveland on Sunday to move within one victory of the World Series. Tampa Bay now owns a 3-2 edge in the American League Championship Series and will return to Tropicana Field with a chance to close it out Monday night.
The result
Rasmussen held Cleveland to one run on four hits over seven innings, again putting the Rays in position to let their defense and bullpen finish the job. Bryan Baker collected the save as Tampa Bay limited the Guardians to five hits altogether.
The Rays did not need a loud offensive night. They played the tight, disciplined game that has defined their second-half surge: make the routine play, take the extra productive at-bat and keep pressure on the other club. Shortstop Taylor Walls and second baseman Ben Williamson were especially sharp in the middle infield.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick lasted two innings. Afterward, he credited Tampa Bay’s lineup for its willingness to work counts and use openings rather than chase a single big swing.
“They’re a very unselfish group,” Messick said. “They can put the ball through a hole instead of always trying to do too much. There’s power there, but there are also hitters who battle. They’re playing their style well right now.”
Rasmussen has now produced two postseason starts of at least seven innings while allowing no more than one run, the first pitcher in Rays history to do that twice. Logan Webb was the last pitcher to reach that mark twice in a postseason before the World Series, doing so for San Francisco in 2021.
Rasmussen was not interested in dwelling on the distinction. “At this point of the year, winning is what matters,” he said. “You do whatever you can to help the club get there. The highs are higher and the losses hit harder.”
The Guardians, who were held down over the last two games in Cleveland, know their season now rests on finding a way back on base and creating offense in Florida. Manager Stephen Vogt said the immediate task is plain.
“We have to respond tomorrow,” Vogt said. “It’s a difficult matchup, but we need baserunners and we need runs. We haven’t created enough of either the last two days.”
Cleveland has been in a similar hole this October. The Guardians trailed the White Sox 2-0 in the Division Series before taking three straight games. Outfielder Steven Kwan said the club will review what went wrong rather than carry Sunday’s loss into the next game.
“Our guys will turn the page, get ready and learn from what didn’t work,” Kwan said. “We’ve handled situations like this before.”
The rotation next
Freddy Peralta is scheduled to start Game 6 for the Rays on Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field. The game will air on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max.
Peralta threw nine relief pitches in Saturday’s Game 4, an outing that served as a between-starts throwing session. In Game 2 at Tropicana Field, he worked six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and reached 99.4 mph with his fastball, the hardest of his career.
Cleveland has not named a starter and could face a bullpen-heavy assignment. Gavin Williams, who has struck out 33 hitters in 16 2/3 postseason innings, is one day short of normal rest after starting Game 3 on Thursday. Vogt said Williams will not start Game 6, though the Guardians will otherwise have to consider every available arm in an elimination game.
The Rays are in their 29th season since joining the league in 1998. They have reached the World Series twice, falling to Philadelphia in 2008 and to the Dodgers in 2020. Cleveland, meanwhile, is trying to end MLB’s longest championship drought, having gone 77 seasons without a title since winning the 1948 World Series.
History favors Tampa Bay after its road win. In best-of-seven series tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has claimed the series 46 times in 69 tries, a 67 percent rate. In the current 2-3-2 setup, clubs that won Game 5 on the road before returning home for Games 6 and 7 have gone on to win 21 of 28 series.
Baker said getting back to Tampa Bay was the Rays’ immediate objective after the series swung in Cleveland. “That was the first goal,” the closer said. “To head home in this position is exactly where we wanted to be. The guys did a terrific job getting us here.”
