The 2026 World Series is set after Game 6 of the ALCS ended in a 7-3 Tampa Bay Rays series-clinching win that led to a cold-blood take from Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. The Guardians started a surprising player in Game 6, reliever Shawn Armstrong, but he didn't pitch the way the team hoped as they fell behind the eight-ball early at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Now that the smoke has cleared on one of the most painful losses in recent Cleveland Guardians history, it's time to assign blame. The Guardians bowed out of the playoffs in the ALCS for the second time in three years, and still have not won a World Series title since way back in 1948.

It's going to take a better effort in 2027 to make it back to the team's first World Series since 2016, but for now, fans are wondering exactly where it all went wrong, and who deserves the blame for the latest tough-luck series loss.

Guardian #1: Stephen Vogt

Vogt is an up-and-comer among MLB managers with a lot of baseball knowledge to spread among his team, but he appeared outfoxed in the clinching Game 6, particularly in terms of his pitching rotation.

The Guardians were caught flat-footed and without an inspiring plan during the final matchup at Tropicana Field, as they trotted eight different pitchers out to the mound and gave up seven runs in a losing effort.

The Rays also used a lot of pitchers, six to be exact, but something felt haphazard about Vogt's strategy as Armstrong exited the game with one runner stranded and Tim Herrin allowed a base hit making the score 2-0 in favor of the Rays.

Vogt got the Guardians to the ALCS based on his smart managing throughout the season, but it was hard not to feel like he was outfoxed by Rays manager Kevin Cash in this one as Cleveland felt off-balance throughout the night in a painful Game 6 loss fans will remember for many years to come. The Guardians' defense had its moments during the series, but the pitching and offense ultimately let down Vogt's team in another hard-luck loss in the American League playoffs.

Guardian #2: Shawn Armstrong

Armstrong was thrust into a difficult situation as the Guardians' starter in a do-or-die Game 6 in St. Petersburg. He failed to make the most of the opportunity as he exited with a stat line of one inning pitched, one hit given up and one earned run.

Armstrong's appearance was perhaps more of an indictment on the Guardians' staff as a whole, and of Vogt, in that there were no better options to start off the game from Cleveland's starting pitching staff.

Typically, teams will throw out their best starting arms in a do-or-die games such as October 20's, but Vogt didn't do it against a Rays team that looked ready and willing to jump all over Cleveland pitching from the start of the game.

Vogt sensed this dynamic and continued to try different bullpen arms throughout the night, but the Rays eventually broke free as they pushed across run-after-run late in the game to secure the victory. Armstrong didn't have a large sample size to draw from in this game and didn't have much time to settle in, but he also didn't quite perform the way Vogt envisioned when he chose him to lead things off.

Guardian #3: Cade Smith

Smith gave up a two-run home run to Junior Caminero in the bottom of the seventh inning that broke the game wide open for Cash's team, extending the Rays' lead to 5-1.

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Smith finished with a stat line of one inning pitched, one hit given up, two earned runs, and one walk with zero strikeouts, a disappointing way for the Guardians pitcher to end a season that saw him thrive with a 1.95 ERA and a 6-1 record as a reliever.

The Caminero homer showed that it simply wasn't the Guardians' night as he rocked one of Vogt's better pitchers, putting an exclamation mark on a magical night for the Rays in St. Petersburg. Vogt's Guardians gave up seven hits on the night, leading to the Rays' seven runs, an outcome made possible by an uncharacteristic six walks given up by Cleveland pitching.

Guardians pitchers finished with just three strikeouts on the night, an indication that the Rays simply didn't fear the long list of hurlers Vogt paraded out on a disappointing night in West-Central Florida.

The 2026 Guardians season is officially in the books, and it was another exciting, albeit disappointing, one for Vogt's team. As the team gets ready to turn the page toward another hot-stove winter and what should be another eventful offseason, it's hard not to feel like Cleveland fans were cheated, and let down in a roundabout way.

2027 could bring brighter October days and perhaps another World Series appearance, but for now, fans are justifiably going through a gamut of emotions as they try to make sense of a season that ended in a dramatic “thud” against a Rays team that appeared as if it simply wanted to win more than the Guardians did.