Against all odds, and facing one of the best pitchers in the American League in Drew Rasmussen, the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Monday night in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series. Foster Griffin delivered a short but solid start, Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey homered, and Jose Ramirez once again came through in a big spot.
The Guardians now lead the ALCS 1-0 and stole home-field advantage from the Rays. Griffin pitched four strong innings and allowed just two first-inning runs on five hits. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out three.
ROAD DAWGS.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWWWins pic.twitter.com/cfueQbP67Q
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 13, 2026
The Rays actually got off to a fast start and took the first lead, though. In the very first inning, a couple of former Guardians teamed up to produce the first run when Junior Caminero singled to bring in Yandy Diaz. A few moments later, Jonny DeLuca drove in Caminero with an RBI single that made it a 2-0 ballgame.
Rasmussen held the Guardians’ offense in check until the sixth inning, when DeLauter greeted him with a solo homer. An inning later, it was Bailey who went yard against the talented Rays’ right-hander to tie the game at two runs apiece.
Rasmussen left the game at that point. He tossed six good innings, allowing a couple of runs on solo homers.
The Guardians broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth. A Ramirez single and a DeLauter double put two runners in scoring position, and after one out, Nathaniel Lowe came through with a two-run single that gave Cleveland its first lead of the game.
GET LOWE!
Nathaniel Lowe's 2-run single puts the Guardians ahead in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/PiWTYtKuUJ
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2026
Against left-hander Erik Sabrowski, Cedric Mullins cleared the wall with a solo homer that brought Tampa within one run. Fortunately for the Guardians, however, that was as close as they would get. In fact, Cleveland would add another run in the top of the ninth thanks to Ramirez, who came up big in a huge spot to the surprise of absolutely no one. The superstar singled to bring home Angel Martinez with the fifth run, and a few minutes later, Jo Adell extended the lead with a two-run double. Just like that, the game was 7-3 in Cleveland’s favor.
JO ADELL KEEPS IT GOING FOR THE GUARDIANS! pic.twitter.com/xmGZpOKe8R
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2026
Cade Smith sealed the deal with a scoreless ninth and another save to his postseason resume. The bullpen was huge for Cleveland in this one: Daniel Espino tossed a shutout frame with three strikeouts, Joey Cantillo navigated through a couple of walks to solve his inning, and Hunter Gaddis also contributed three outs without issues.
Sabrowski recovered from the Mullins homers to help with three more outs, and Smith was perfect once again and quickly sat the Rays hitters he faced in six pitches.
DeLauter went 3-for-4 with the homer, three runs, and an RBI, while Ramirez had a 3-for-5 night.
The series will continue on Tuesday night, again at Tropicana Field. Parker Messick will face Freddy Peralta.
Monday’s win is, without a doubt, a huge one for Cleveland. This is far from over, though.
NEXT: Guardians Can Take Advantage Of 1 Rays Weakness In Championship Series
