Rays Beat Guardians 7-3 in Cleveland to Tie ALCS at 2-2

As of 6:28 a.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 on Saturday night at Progressive Field to even the American League Championship Series at two games apiece. The series is now a best-of-three.

The win gave Tampa Bay back home-field advantage and guaranteed the series returns to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for Game 6 on Monday night. Game 4 had been pushed back from Friday to Saturday by a postponement.

How it happened

Cleveland scored first on Chase DeLauter's RBI single in the first inning. Jonathan Aranda tied it 1-1 in the third with a two-out single to center that scored Yandy Díaz.

Junior Caminero broke the tie in the sixth with a 110.2 mph double to left off reliever Daniel Espino that scored Aranda. Earlier, in the fourth, Caminero had hit a 110.7 mph drive to deep center that Petey Halpin caught at the wall. MLB.com reported it was the 265th batted ball Statcast has tracked at 110 mph with a 28- to 30-degree launch angle, and the only one of the 265 that wasn't a home run.

Tampa Bay scored three times in the seventh. Aranda's grounder through a drawn-in infield rolled under DeLauter's glove in right field, letting two runs score, and Aranda later scored on Chandler Simpson's sacrifice fly. Cleveland answered in the bottom of the inning with a Travis Bazzana home run and an RBI single by Brayan Rocchio. Díaz closed the scoring with a two-run homer to right in the ninth off Matt Festa, on an 0-2 pitch.

Before Game 4, Díaz, Aranda and Caminero were a combined 5-for-34 in the series. On Saturday they went 6-for-14 with five RBIs, according to MLB.com. Aranda went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Díaz went 2-for-5 with a homer.

Rays starter Nick Martinez (1-0) allowed one run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings, and Freddy Peralta, who started Game 2, pitched in relief. Espino (0-1) took the loss. Tampa Bay outhit Cleveland 11-8, and the Guardians made two errors. Attendance was 33,355.

"It was just a matter of time for us three to get going," Aranda said through interpreter Kevin Vera. "That's a tough three to get through," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of the top of the Rays' order. "The first three games, [it] felt like we executed really well against those guys, and we just didn't tonight. And they made us pay".

What's next

Game 5 is Sunday at Progressive Field, with first pitch at 5:08 p.m. ET (broadcast window 5 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV and HBO Max), according to MLB.com. Parker Messick, a rookie left-hander, starts for Cleveland and Drew Rasmussen for Tampa Bay. Game 6 is Monday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.