Rays 7, Guardians 3: Peralta, Two Homers, a Third Pennant

The helmet in the dirt, then a third pennant

October 19, 2026 - St. Petersburg - Richie Palacios was two outs into a second inning that Cleveland had already tried to end. Chandler Simpson stood at third. Victor Mesa Jr. stood at first after a walk and a steal. Tim Herrin was still in the game. Palacios flew one to right-center. Chase DeLauter ran it down in the gap and did not catch it. Simpson scored. Mesa scored. Palacios's helmet came off between first and second. The MLB recap had him howling at the dugout.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in American League Championship Series Game 6. Tampa Bay wins the series 4-2. First pitch 8:08 p.m. Dome. 72 degrees. Attendance 40,230. Two hours, 55 minutes. Eighteen years to the day after the 2008 pennant, the Associated Press recap said, the Rays are in the World Series for the third time in 29 seasons.

Tampa Bay finished with seven hits, two homers, and six walks. Cleveland finished with seven hits, two doubles, and no homers. That is the file.

Armstrong's first, then Herrin's gap ball

Shawn Armstrong opened. Cleveland went with a bullpen night. He needed nine pitches for a 1-2-3 first: Yandy Díaz to Brayan Rocchio, Jonathan Aranda to Travis Bazzana, Liam Hicks popped back to the mound. Freddy Peralta gave Steven Kwan a ground-ball single in the top half and then got José Ramírez, DeLauter, and Jo Adell in the air.

Armstrong came back for Junior Caminero to start the second. Line drive to Petey Halpin. Stephen Vogt went to Herrin. Simpson forced Caminero at second. Mesa walked. Simpson stole second. Mesa stole second. Jonny DeLuca lined to Halpin, Simpson tagging to third. Palacios's double made it 2-0. Two-out RBI, both of them.

Matt Festa inherited second. He walked Taylor Walls and hit Díaz. Aranda flew to Kwan. The inning stopped at two. Armstrong took the loss (0-1): one inning, one hit, one earned, no walks, nine pitches. The run on his card came out of that second inning. Palacios went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Bases loaded, a force at the plate, a sac fly

Joey Cantillo opened the third. Hicks singled to Kwan. Caminero walked. Simpson bunted toward Ramírez. Hicks to third. Caminero to second. Bases loaded, nobody out.

Mesa bounced to Bazzana. Bazzana threw home. Hicks was out. The other two moved up. DeLuca lifted a sacrifice fly to Kwan. Caminero scored. 3-0. Palacios grounded to Nathaniel Lowe. Tampa Bay left two. Cleveland had already used four pitchers.

Peralta's third was the first real traffic. Halpin struck out. Rocchio singled. Kwan forced him. Ramírez walked. Hicks challenged a pitch to DeLauter. The call on the field was overturned. DeLauter struck out. Inning over.

Adell doubled sharp to Simpson in the fourth. Lowe walked. Bazzana lined to Mesa. Patrick Bailey bounced into a 6-3 double play, Walls to Aranda. Cantillo walked Walls and hit Aranda in the bottom half. Daniel Espino came in and got Caminero to Halpin. Espino then threw a clean fifth: Simpson to Lowe, Mesa swinging, DeLuca to Ramírez. Twelve pitches, eight strikes, one strikeout.

Lowe's single, then the foul pole

DeLauter doubled to DeLuca to start the sixth. Adell grounded to Walls, DeLauter holding. Lowe singled through the middle. DeLauter scored. 3-1. Peralta was at 84 pitches, 51 strikes, five hits, three walks, three strikeouts, one earned. Kevin Cash went to Cam Booser. Bazzana flew to Simpson. Bailey popped foul to Aranda. The Associated Press recap put Peralta at 5 1/3 and called it gritty. It was also his second win of the series (2-0). ESPN had his postseason ERA at 1.08.

Booser threw a clean seventh. David Fry pinch-hit for Halpin and grounded to Walls. Rocchio flew to DeLuca. Kwan lined to DeLuca. Hold No. 4.

Cade Smith walked Hicks to open the bottom of the seventh. Caminero hit the next one off the left-field foul pole. ESPN's scoring summary had it 346 feet. Hicks scored. 5-1. First career postseason homer, the MLB recap said, and the first homer off a Smith splitter. Caminero stopped before first, turned to the dugout, then pointed at Randy Arozarena behind the plate as he came home. Smith got Simpson, Mesa, and DeLuca after that. The two runs were already on the board.

Two walks, a HBP, three pitches

Tyler Wells started the eighth. Ramírez flew to Simpson. DeLauter grounded to Palacios. Cleveland challenged the play at first. Overturned. Single. Adell popped foul to Aranda. Lowe singled to Mesa. Two on, two out.

Ian Seymour walked Bazzana. Bases loaded. He walked Bailey. DeLauter scored. 5-2. He hit pinch-hitter Angel Martínez. Lowe scored. 5-3. Three batters, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, zero outs recorded. Cash went to Kevin Kelly. Three pitches. Rocchio swinging. Hold No. 4. The Trop got the lead back at two runs and did not have to watch a bases-loaded out turn into a tie.

Hunter Gaddis flew Palacios to Kwan, who had moved to center. Walls walked. Díaz hit the next one to left, 416 feet on ESPN's scoring summary. Walls scored. 7-3. The MLB recap had the building chanting his name until he came out. Díaz had told the Associated Press after Game 5 that they were going to win Monday. He went 1-for-4 with the homer, a hit-by-pitch, and two RBI.

Aranda struck out. Hicks grounded to Ramírez. Bryan Baker took the ninth: Kwan to Aranda, Ramírez to Aranda, DeLauter popped foul to Hicks. Nine pitches, eight strikes, no save because the lead was four. Peralta was named ALCS MVP, the MLB recap said, after six scoreless in Game 2, two outs in Game 4, and this start.

Caminero finished 2-for-3 with the homer, a walk, two runs, and two RBI. Simpson went 1-for-4 with a bunt single, a steal, and the first run. Walls walked three times and scored on Díaz. Ramírez went 0-for-4 with a walk. Cleveland was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Milwaukee on Friday

World Series Game 1 is Friday at American Family Field, 8 p.m. ET, against the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee has been off since sweeping the Dodgers on October 15. The Associated Press recap noted that neither club has won a World Series, and that the last time two first-time champions met was 1980.

"This is unbelievable," Peralta said in the MLB recap. "I think I have to see it when I go home tonight and start thinking about it, because I am still in shock. I don't believe it."

Kwan, in the same recap: "It's a great baseball team. Great baseball teams win big games. They played defense better than us, they hit better than us, they pitched better than us. We didn't beat ourselves, we got beat."

Cleveland's title drought is 78 years. Tampa Bay's last World Series was 2020, in Arlington, with a quarter of a stadium. Cash told MLB.com that 40,000 people behind them is a different thing.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Tampa Bay at 14 team fantasy points on a 7-3. Cleveland sat at -2. Peralta had 10.33 pitching FP on 5 1/3 innings and one earned. That is not a quality start. Quality start still means six innings and three earned or fewer. Caminero led hitters at 10. Fantasy points measure the night. Share price is what the market pays. They move together, but they are not the same number. See dynamic pricing.

Track the Rays and Guardians on the marketplace. Information only; not financial advice.

*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; MLB.com recap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; ESPN recap; Associated Press recap via ESPN; AthX Engine scoring applied to verified box stats. Information only; not financial advice.*