ST. PETERSBURG -- Guardians third baseman José Ramírez extended his lead from second base a few extra feet in the eighth inning on Monday night, prompting a long stare from Rays right-hander Kevin Kelly. The moment Kelly began his delivery, Ramírez took off.
Ramírez’s stolen-base attempt prompted his counterpart, Junior Caminero, to dash toward third base for an expected throw from catcher Liam Hicks. Instead, Jo Adell smacked a ground ball directly where Caminero had been standing.
Ramírez scored, and Chase DeLauter followed from first base on Adell’s double.
“He's 'Hosey.' He just has a knack for finding his way on base,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “When he does, he makes things happen.”
Ramírez and his mates made things happen on Monday. Now, they’re three wins from the World Series. The Guardians beat the Rays, 7-3, in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven set.
The Guardians trailed, 2-0, through five innings. They were up against Drew Rasmussen, whose previous 13 starts ended in a Rays win, dating back to July 21. Tampa Bay looked to be in control. Then, Cleveland flipped the script by scoring seven times over the final four innings.
“I think that's just the Guardians,” DeLauter said of Monday’s win. “Whether it was last week, whether it's today, yesterday, we have the same vibes going along. We know what we can do.”
These Guardians have continued to show their knack for comebacks, from chasing down the White Sox this season to win the AL Central title, to winning three straight elimination games last week to erase a 2-0 series deficit and beat Chicago in the best-of-five ALDS.
The Guardians have done it with an offense that has come alive after scoring three runs through two games this postseason. They tallied 14 hits on Monday, which is tied for the fourth most in a nine-inning postseason game in franchise history.
And they gave the Rays a taste of their own medicine along the way.
Tampa Bay is known offensively for being able to beat a team in any way, from playing small ball to hitting the long ball. The Rays did that in Game 1. The Guardians did it even better.
DeLauter cut the Guardians’ deficit to 2-1 in the sixth with an opposite-field homer to left off Rasmussen. Patrick Bailey chased the Rays ace from the game with a game-tying homer to lead off the seventh that went a Statcast-projected 436 feet.
“It opened up right there with a big swing from Patty and Chase,” Adell said.
Ramírez and DeLauter reached to open the eighth, and Nathaniel Lowe gave the Guards a 4-2 lead with two-run single to center field off Ian Seymour. That caused an audible crowd pop from the large contingent of Cleveland fans that made the trip to St. Pete. Adell’s double later provided a healthy cushion in the ninth.
Lowe felt the Guardians shut themselves down a bit in a 3-0 loss in Game 1 of ALDS, pointing to poor swing decisions that made them lose count leverage. Cleveland has scored 30 runs in five games since, including nine-run outputs in Games 3 and 4 against Chicago.
“It feels good to see some balls fall, to see some guys get on the barrel, to see some guys have some great at-bats,” Lowe said. “Because the first two games of the White Sox series, we got beat.
“Whether it's beating ourselves trying to do too much or not feeling it, we had to go get our backs against the wall and do something crazy, and this group did.”
Cleveland has won four straight games since it fell into a must-win hole in the ALDS, tied for the second-longest winning streak in postseason franchise history behind a six-game run to open the 2016 playoffs.
After the Guardians clawed back from the brink against Chicago, the ALCS gave them a fresh start. That was one of the messages Vogt relayed to his players entering this series.
“There's no more of like, ‘We have to,’” Vogt said. “It’s, ‘Hey, we get to go play in the ALCS. Let's go have some fun, and let's go take control of the series right away.’”
The Rays are good. They aren’t going to go down quietly. But after a demanding first-round series, the Guardians have kept the momentum rolling in a major way.
“We're gritty with it,” Adell said. “It's been our DNA to find a way to make it happen, and we're never out of games. With our pitching staff and the guys that we put out there, we trust that every night. It's been more than elite, so it’s special.”