Rays, Guardians Meet in Pivotal ALCS Game 5 at Progressive Field

Progressive Field gets the swing game Sunday, with the American League Championship Series even at two wins apiece and a trip back to St. Petersburg waiting on the other side. Tampa Bay answered Cleveland’s Game 3 win with a 7-3 decision in Game 4, leaving Drew Rasmussen and rookie left-hander Parker Messick with the ball for a 5:08 p.m. ET first pitch.

The winner will carry a 3-2 edge into Game 6 at Tropicana Field, while the loser will be pushed to the brink. Milwaukee has already finished its work on the National League side and is waiting for its World Series opponent.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt saw no reason for his club to look backward after Saturday’s loss. “We’re in good shape. We’re tied,” Vogt said. “Now it comes down to a three-game series. I’ll take our group against anybody in a three-game series. We wanted that 3-1 advantage, obviously, but it didn’t happen. All we can do is be ready for Game 5 and earn a good flight to Tampa.”

The pitching matchup

Rain that shifted Game 4 from Friday to Saturday also altered the pitching calendar. Messick, who started Game 2 on Tuesday and had been on track for a possible Game 6 assignment, instead gets this one on normal rest.

The 25-year-old lefty allowed six hits and three runs, none earned, across five innings in Game 2. He walked two, struck out three and hit a batter. After becoming a steady piece of Cleveland’s rotation during the regular season, he now gets one of the largest assignments of his young career.

“Getting the ball here tells you the club believes in you,” Messick said. “I know how big it is to head into their place with a lead and be one win from the World Series. I’m excited for it and hope I can do my job.”

Rasmussen benefits from five days between starts, a schedule closer to his regular-season routine. He worked into the seventh inning in Tampa Bay’s Game 1 loss, recording 18 outs and yielding two runs. Earlier in the Division Series against the Yankees, he struck out 10 and permitted one hit over eight innings.

Rasmussen has kept his own approach simple. “It’s still baseball,” he said. “That has helped me pitch well so far. Don’t turn it into something larger than it is. Preparation and execution are what matter.”

Starting lineups

Cleveland has stayed largely with its postseason regulars, but Bailey replaces Austin Hedges behind the plate. Hedges caught all but one of Messick’s starts during the season, while Bailey had not caught the rookie left-hander. The Guardians chose Bailey’s offense as they try to seize the series lead.

Tampa Bay made one notable adjustment as well, installing Vilade in right field for Victor Mesa Jr. to add a right-handed bat against Messick.

Late innings are lined up

The Rays used five relievers behind Nick Martinez in Game 4, including likely Game 6 starter Freddy Peralta. Still, Ian Seymour was the only Tampa Bay reliever to exceed 16 pitches, leaving managerially available depth behind Rasmussen. Closer Bryan Baker has finished each of the Rays’ five postseason victories. Cam Booser remains the primary left-handed bullpen option, Kevin Kelly handles many of the biggest right-handed assignments, and Tyler Wells strengthened his case with two innings in Game 3. Griffin Jax, the Game 3 starter, also could be an option if the game demands it.

Cleveland held back closer Cade Smith and key setup men Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski during Game 4. The preferred script has Messick getting through five or six innings before turning the game over to that trio.

Tampa Bay’s middle of the order arrives

The Rays’ Game 4 surge came from the names Cleveland most needed to quiet. Caminero, Díaz and Aranda combined for six hits in 14 at-bats and drove in five runs after opening the series a collective 5-for-34. Caminero responded after striking out four times in Game 3, while Aranda continued a particularly sharp stretch.

Aranda recorded the first three-hit postseason game of his career Saturday, becoming the first Rays player with three playoff hits in one game since Randy Arozarena in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series.

“One of our main goals in Cleveland was getting this series back home,” Aranda said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “We play very well in our own park. We’ll lean on the crowd and its energy. Drew is among the league’s best pitchers, and that gives us confidence.”

Simpson has supplied another spark, delivering a key single during Tampa Bay’s three-run fourth inning in Game 2 and then accounting for every Rays run with a two-run triple in Game 3. Hicks is 3-for-20 this postseason, while Mesa is 4-for-25 with 11 strikeouts, leaving room for more production lower in the order.

Cleveland notes entering Game 5

Bazzana went 3-for-4 with a homer in Game 4, including a seventh-inning solo drive that made him the first Australia-born player to hit a home run in MLB postseason history.

DeLauter’s first-inning RBI single Saturday was his 10th hit of the playoffs. He sits one hit behind Rocchio’s Cleveland rookie postseason record of 11, set in 2024. Rocchio went 1-for-3 in Game 4 but is 4-for-28 over nine postseason games this year.

Ramírez drew a sixth-inning walk to extend his postseason on-base streak to 16 games, matching Kwan for the longest such run in Cleveland playoff history. Kwan’s streak spanned Oct. 8, 2022, through Oct. 19, 2024.

Mesa also made his mark in the field Saturday, cutting down DeLauter at second base in the first inning for his second outfield assist of the postseason. He joined B.J. Upton, Kevin Kiermaier and Hunter Renfroe as the only Rays players with multiple postseason outfield assists.

No Tampa Bay injuries were listed entering the game. After rain earlier in the weekend, the forecast calls for clear conditions, though temperatures will fall as the evening moves along. Cleveland knows the cold, and the dome-dwelling Rays have already shown they can handle a different setting. TBS and HBO Max will carry the game, with UniMás providing Spanish-language television coverage and TUDN Radio carrying Spanish-language radio.