The Cleveland Guardians have had a memorable postseason after coming back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series. That victory has given them the opportunity to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS.
The Rays started their playoff run as the No. 1 seed in the American League. They swept the New York Yankees in three games, and they are clear favorites over the Guardians. However, Cleveland is not going to concede anything just because the Rays won 98 games in the regular season — 13 more than the Guardians.
The Guardians managed to win Game 3 of the series at Progressive Field in Cleveland, and they have taken a 2-1 lead in the series. Cleveland rode a 2-run homer by Petey Halpin in the fifth inning and secured a 3-2 victory in the third game of the series.
Cleveland's pitchers shut down the big hitters in the Tampa Bay lineup and struck out 13 in the game. According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, the Guardians have an excellent chance to win the series. In all best-of-7 series, the team that won Game 3 of the series when it was tied 1-1 has been victorious 71 out of 102 times.
Additionally, in the current 2-3-2 format, the team that wins the third game of a series tied 1-1 has won 30 times in 49 opportunities.
Five Cleveland pitchers shut down the Ray and limited them to two hits in the game. Gavin Williams started the game for the Guardians, and he struck out 9 batters in 5.0 innings. The four relief pitchers that followed did not give up a hit in the final 4.0 innings.