The Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series. In Monday night’s Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the Rays scored early and often, holding onto the lead to secure the win over the Cleveland Guardians and the pennant.
Tampa Bay will appear in its first World Series in a full season since 2008 and will face the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup of teams without a Fall Classic title. Action took place at Tropicana Field.
When was the game decided?
It was over when Junior Caminero hit a two-run home run off of Guardians closer Cade Smith in the seventh inning; it proved to be a crucial blast after Cleveland scored twice in the top of the eighth. Caminero’s jog around the bases was pretty epic, lasting 38.7 seconds, the longest in the postseason during the Statcast era (since 2015). He was having a quiet series, but that homer put his team up 5-1, giving the Rays an insurmountable lead in the deciding game.
Who was the standout performer?
Caminero’s home run jog was great, and Yandy Diaz’s no-doubt two-run shot in the eighth shook Tropicana Field. But Freddy Peralta earns star honors after another great outing. He actually gave up a run — a rarity for him these days — but pitched another solid 5⅓ innings. And even though he allowed five hits and three walks, he made pitches when he had to, especially with men on base. Peralta’s best sequence came in the fourth after the first two batters reached. He induced a fly out from Travis Bazzana then a ground ball double play off the bat of Patrick Bailey.
What defined the outcome?
The stat that defined the game: The Guardians couldn’t produce clutch, game-shifting hits over the final three games of the series — and it cost them. On Monday, they went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base, squandering opportunities to score after falling behind. Their best chance arose in the eighth when they loaded the bases with consecutive walks and a hit by pitch with two outs for Brayan Rocchio. Kevin Kelly, summoned to face Rocchio after Cleveland scored two runs in the inning, struck Rocchio out on three pitches. In the end, Cleveland scored seven runs over the final three games — all losses — and their World Series title drought extends to 78 years as a result.
