Steven Kwan returned to center field with gauze in his mouth and a split lip, but Cleveland left Progressive Field with a different kind of bruise Saturday night. The Rays’ 7-3 Game 4 win leveled the American League Championship Series at two games apiece, turning Sunday’s matchup into the pivot point of a tight, physical pennant race.
Key takeaways
- Tampa Bay tied the best-of-seven ALCS at 2-2 with a 7-3 victory in Cleveland.
- Guardians left-hander Parker Messick will face Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in Game 5.
- Kwan injured his lip diving headfirst into first base on an unsuccessful infield hit attempt.
- Yandy Díaz supplied a double and a two-run homer after a quiet first three games, while Junior Caminero added an RBI double.
- A Chase DeLauter error in right field helped Tampa Bay break through for three seventh-inning runs.
- Cleveland used seven pitchers Saturday, but Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski and closer Cade Smith were kept out of the game.
Game 5 rests on Messick’s left arm
What could have been a 3-1 Cleveland advantage is now a three-game sprint. The historical edge is clear: clubs that grab a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have finished the job 82 times in 96 tries. At 2-2, Sunday’s winner will carry the upper hand; Game 5 winners in tied best-of-seven series have gone on to win 46 of 69 series.
Stephen Vogt put the new assignment plainly: “It’s a three-game series now.”
The Guardians will send Messick to the mound for his fourth postseason start. He also started Game 2 on Tuesday, when he worked five innings and yielded three runs, none earned, on six hits and two walks. Friday’s postponement altered Cleveland’s rotation calendar, allowing Messick to take the Game 5 ball rather than wait for a possible Game 6 on Monday.
Messick has logged 198 innings across the regular season and playoffs, well beyond his previous professional high of 138 1/3 innings between Cleveland and Triple-A Columbus in 2025. Vogt has acknowledged that the added workload may be connected to some of the left-hander’s postseason command issues, though Messick said he feels no physical strain.
“My body feels good,” Messick said. “I know I’m far past my previous workload mark, but I feel great.”
Kwan said the clubhouse has faith in the lefty. “He has answered the bell every time we’ve needed him,” Kwan said. “There’s no reason not to be confident in him tomorrow.”
If Messick can cover meaningful innings, Cleveland has a fresher late-game lane available in Gaddis, Sabrowski and Smith. None of those three appeared during Saturday’s bullpen-heavy loss.
Cleveland must clean up the details
The Guardians had their opening. They scored first, collecting three runs on eight hits and three walks, but Rays starter Nick Martinez found his footing after the early damage. Martinez retired 11 consecutive Cleveland hitters through the fifth inning, giving Tampa Bay time to reshape the game.
The Rays’ heart of the order did the rest. Díaz and Caminero had entered Game 4 a combined 5-for-34 over the first three games, with three extra-base hits and one RBI between them. Díaz changed that line with a double and a two-run blast, while Caminero drove in a run with a double.
The decisive trouble arrived in the seventh. Jonathan Aranda hit a ground-ball single that slipped beneath DeLauter’s glove in right field, and Tampa Bay turned the misplay into a three-run inning.
Kwan, whose bloody mouthpiece became a fitting image of Cleveland’s effort level, said the Guardians did not execute the basic parts of the game when the stakes climbed.
“In those big moments, the team that plays cleaner baseball wins,” Kwan said. “We didn’t make the plays, and we didn’t stick to the plans we needed to follow. Against hitters with the talent at the top of their lineup, you can’t hand over extra outs or free pitches.”
The urgency extends beyond Sunday. Foster Griffin, Cleveland’s Game 1 starter, threw 44 pitches while working 3 2/3 relief innings Saturday. Gavin Williams remains lined up for a potential Game 7 on Tuesday with normal rest, leaving the Guardians’ Game 6 picture uncertain. Cleveland could again need extensive bullpen coverage, while Tampa Bay appears positioned to use Freddy Peralta, who recorded two outs Saturday after blanking the Guardians for six innings in Game 2.
Win Sunday, though, and Cleveland earns two opportunities to close out the pennant. Williams would be available for a winner-take-all Game 7, while the Rays could be looking at a bullpen game by then.
Vogt’s message was to keep the club focused on the immediate assignment. “We would have preferred to leave here up 3-1, obviously, but that’s gone,” he said. “We’ll be ready for Game 5, play our game, and hopefully get on that flight to Tampa feeling good.”
