Guardians Bullpen Shuts Down Rays Late to Win ALCS Game 3 - Mon Diaries: A Daily Chronicle
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Guardians Bullpen Shuts Down Rays Late to Win ALCS Game 3

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Guardians Bullpen Shuts Down Rays Late to Win ALCS Game 3
Steven Vogt's bold call pays off as Guardians hold off Rays

Petey Halpin delivered his first career postseason home run, Gavin Williams struck out nine, and Cleveland's bullpen slammed the door with 15 of the final 16 outs as the Guardians edged the Rays 3-2 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS.


Chandler Simpson's clutch triple not enough as Rays fall to Guardians in ALCS...


The Cleveland Guardians edged the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Thursday to win Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.


Cleveland now leads the series 2-1 heading into Game 4. Historically, teams that take a 2-1 advantage in the LCS go on to reach the World Series 70.3% of the time.


Cleveland has held a 2-1 lead in the ALCS on just three previous occasions in franchise history in 2007, 1998 and 1997. They went on to lose two of those three series, with the lone exception coming in 1997 when they beat the Baltimore Orioles in six games.


Meanwhile, the Rays are facing a 2-1 deficit in the ALCS for the first time in franchise history. The last time they trailed 2-1 in any postseason series was the 2021 ALDS against the Boston Red Sox, a series they ultimately lost in four games.



How It Unfolded: Pitching Dominates Early

Guardians starter Gavin Williams came out dealing, tossing a clean 1-2-3 first inning that began with a first-pitch pop-up and ended with consecutive strikeouts. He stayed in command, retiring the next six batters he faced across the second and third innings.


Jose Ramirez became Cleveland's first baserunner in Game 3 after working a walk. The threat was short-lived, however, as Rays catcher Liam Hicks threw him out attempting to steal second before starter Griffin Jax got Chase DeLauter to ground out to end the inning.




An inning later, the Guardians struck first when Nathaniel Lowe ripped an RBI double to right field, scoring Jo Adell all the way from first base.


The RBI was Lowe's fourth of this postseason and his third of the series, a strong bounce-back performance after going 0-for-4 in Cleveland's Game 2 loss.






Williams finally ran into trouble in the top of the fourth, giving up a double to Yandy Diaz and a two-out walk to Victor Mesa Jr. to put runners on first and second.


Chandler Simpson delivered in the clutch once again for Tampa Bay, as he has all season, lining a two-run triple down the first-base line to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.






Petey Halpin sent the Cleveland crowd into a frenzy in the bottom of the fifth, launching a two-run homer to put the Guardians back on top 3-2.


It was the first postseason home run of his career and his fourth hit of this playoff run, his second in this series.






Jax's night ended one batter later after allowing a single to Brayan Rocchio. He finished Game 3 with three earned runs allowed on five hits and two walks, striking out two over 67 pitches, 39 for strikes.


Tyler Wells came on to close out the fifth and limit any further damage. Hicks fired another strike down to second base, this time catching Rocchio trying to steal.


In a surprising move, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt pulled Williams after just 70 pitches. He exited after five innings, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out nine.


Daniel Espino took over in relief and immediately retired the Rays in order, capping the inning by striking out Junior Caminero for his third strikeout of the game to that point.




Wells continued to cruise for Tampa Bay, retiring the Guardians in order in the bottom of the sixth all via strikeout.


Cleveland countered with Erik Sabrowski, who answered with a 1-2-3 frame of his own. The tension escalated in the top of the eighth when Cade Smith entered for the Guardians with two outs, speedster Jorge Mateo standing on third as the tying run and Yandy Diaz at the plate.


True to form, Smith won the battle, striking out Diaz to end the threat after a grueling 10-pitch at-bat.




The Rays' bullpen kept dealing. After Wells delivered two scoreless innings, Steven Matz who hadn't pitched since September 26th followed with two hitless innings and didn't issue a single walk.


It still wasn't enough.


Smith shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth to secure a four-out save. In total, Cleveland's bullpen retired 15 of the final 16 Rays batters.


Game 4 of the ALCS between the Rays and Guardians is set for Friday, October 16th in Cleveland.

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