Cleveland arrived in Florida already riding a playoff hot streak and left with a series edge. Trailing early at Tropicana Field, the Guardians finished four runs clear of Tampa Bay to open the American League title round on Monday.
With 98 regular-season wins and a Yankees sweep behind them, the hosts struck in the opening frame. RBI singles from Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca made it 2-0. Starter Foster Griffin steadied the ship, then a five-man relief parade covered the final five frames with barely a scratch — one run, two hits total — Gaddis taking the W and Smith a spotless ninth.
Chase DeLauter’s opposite-field shot in the sixth cracked the door. Patrick Bailey’s estimated 436-foot blast to center opened the seventh and chased Drew Rasmussen, who had nearly no-hit New York days earlier. Nathaniel Lowe, a former Rays debutant, punched a two-run liner through the middle in the eighth. Cedric Mullins answered with a solo drive, but José Ramírez and Jo Adell piled on insurance in the ninth.
Ramírez finished a triple shy of nothing — he simply racked up a 3-for-night — while DeLauter lacked only the three-bagger for a cycle. Cleveland’s 14-hit night dwarfed what Tampa Bay’s pitchers had allowed across the whole Yankees set. It is Cleveland’s fourth straight October win, their best such stretch since 2016, while Kevin Cash admitted his club had gone a while without tasting defeat.
Tuesday brings Game 2 under the same roof: rookie lefty Parker Messick versus Freddy Peralta. Stephen Vogt said the arms bought time until the bats finally woke.
