The American League Championship Series is rapidly developing into a classic matchup of the favored Tampa Bay Rays and the upstart Cleveland Guardians. After splitting the first two games of the series at the Tropicana Dome, the series resumed in Cleveland Thursday under the bright sunshine at Progressive Field.
The Guardians rode a 2-run home run from Petey Halpin in the fifth inning to win the game 3-2, and take a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 series. The Cleveland pitching, led by starter Gavin Williams, shut down the Tampa Bay offense. With the exception of Chandler Simpson's 2-run triple in the fourth inning, the hard-hitting Rays were held in check.
None of the Rays struggled more than MVP candidate Junior Caminero. He struck out four times in the game. His last two at bats against saw Caminero swing and miss at high fastballs out of the zone. He simply could not catch up with those pitches.
While Caminero was clearly upset with his performance, he met the media after the game and faced the questions. He pledged to do better in the next game of the series.
“Believe me, I don’t want to strike out four times, but I’ll flip the page,” Caminero said.
While Caminero had the most obvious difficulties in Game 3 of the series, his teammates struggled as well. Leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz had one single in four at bats and scored on Simpson's three-base hit. Jonathan Aranda, the No. 2 hitter in the lineup, was hitless in four at bats and struck out twice.
Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night in Cleveland, although a forecast of rain could impact the game.