Guardians' Improbable Run Ends Two Wins Short
Tampa Bay took the ALCS in six games, closing out Cleveland 7–3 on Oct. 19 after the Guardians rallied from a losing record in August to a third straight AL Central title.
Cleveland's late-season charge ended Monday, Oct. 19, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, two wins shy of the World Series.
The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Guardians 7–3 in Game 6 to win the American League Championship Series four games to two, according to Cox Media Group's national desk. The crowd was 40,230.
How the series turned
Cleveland led the series 2–1 before Tampa Bay won three straight, MLB.com reported.
The Guardians' bats went quiet. They scored seven runs in their Game 1 win and 10 runs across the other five games, according to MLB.com.
In the clincher, Freddy Peralta pitched 5 1/3 innings and was named ALCS MVP. Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz each hit two-run homers, and Bryan Baker closed the ninth, according to Cox Media Group.
A run nobody saw coming
On Aug. 19, Cleveland was 61–66, five games under .500 and 5½ games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, MLB.com reported.
The Guardians then went 24–11 to finish the season and win their third consecutive division title.
In the AL Division Series, Cleveland fell behind the White Sox two games to none in the best-of-five series and came back to win, according to MLB.com.
Manager Stephen Vogt's team did it largely without José Ramírez, who missed much of the year after surgery on his left hamate bone in June. He is expected back in 2027, according to MLB.com.
Rookies Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter and Parker Messick emerged. Messick, Gavin Williams and closer Cade Smith anchored the pitching staff. Trade-deadline additions Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe and Foster Griffin helped too.
The offense scored 678 runs for the season, 24th in the majors, but its 232 runs after the deadline ranked eighth, MLB.com reported.
In their words
Catcher Austin Hedges summed up the clubhouse, according to MLB.com: "It hurts. I felt like this was a group that could win the World Series."
Outfielder Steven Kwan said, "This was the closest I've ever been."
Front-office chief Chris Antonetti put it in longer terms: "I've been doing it for 28 [years]. I'm 0-for-28."
Tampa Bay moved on to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series.