The Tampa Bay Rays are headed back to the World Series, beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night to take the series 4-2.
A sellout crowd of 40,230 at Tropicana Field watched the Rays win three straight games to claim their third American League pennant in franchise history, setting up a Fall Classic against the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers.
Peralta delivers the pennant
Freddy Peralta, acquired in a midseason trade from the New York Mets, threw 5 1/3 gritty innings, allowing one run on five hits to earn his second win of the series and ALCS MVP honours, according to reports. The Rays jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning on Richie Palacios’ two-run double and never looked back.
The decisive blows came late. Junior Caminero smashed a two-run home run, his first of the playoffs, off the foul pole in the seventh inning to make it 5-1, and Yandy Diaz hit another two-run homer in the eighth to give Tampa Bay a 7-3 lead, according to reports. The Guardians had put the go-ahead run at first base in the eighth, but reliever Kevin Kelly struck out Brayan Rocchio with the bases loaded to end the threat.
A first-time champion guaranteed
The Rays last reached the World Series in 2020, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and in 2008. Game 1 is Friday in Milwaukee, where the Brewers, who swept the Dodgers in the NLCS and won 103 games, await.
Neither franchise has ever won the World Series, so baseball is guaranteed a first-time champion, according to reports. For Cleveland, the loss extended the club’s championship drought to 78 years.
The Rays’ run has been one of the season’s great stories. They played their 2025 home games across the bay in Tampa at the Yankees’ spring training complex while Tropicana Field was repaired after Hurricane Milton shredded the roof, then returned to win 55 games at home this season, according to reports. New ownership also secured a new stadium deal for 2029, giving fans a future to look forward to alongside this pennant.
