ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One more win.
That’s all that stands in the way of the Tampa Bay Rays reaching the World Series for the third time in franchise history.
The Rays will host the Cleveland Guardians Monday night at Tropicana Field in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
Tampa Bay won games 4 and 5 over the weekend to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“It’s a great opportunity. All of us are thinking of it. But it all ends (Monday). We’re going to win (Monday),” said designated hitter Yandy Díaz, who had three hits in Sunday’s 3-1 victory in Cleveland.
Tampa Bay will start right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA in the postseason), who will make his third appearance of the series. He threw six scoreless innings in his Game 2 start and pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief on Saturday.
Peralta will have a tough act to follow. Nick Martinez pitched into the sixth inning Saturday, allowing just one run, and staff ace Drew Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings Sunday.
“The way he limited anything was really, really impressive,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Rasmussen. “He got in rhythm with the fastball. A lot of power to everything. Then the depth on the changeup throughout the outing was a big pitch for him.”
Game 7, if needed, would be Tuesday. The World Series starts Friday, with the Rays-Guardians winner taking on the National League Champion Milwaukee Brewers.
The Rays reached the World Series for the first time in 2008, losing in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies. They made it back to the Fall Classic in the COVID-shortened season of 2020, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cleveland hasn’t won the AL pennant since 2016, when they lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs. They haven’t won the World Series since 1948.
Game 6 starts shortly after 8 p.m. Monday.
Associated Press contributed to this report.