Rays vs Guardians Game 5 Recap: Tampa Bay Regains Control of ALCS - Mon Diaries: A Daily Chronicle
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Rays vs Guardians Game 5 Recap: Tampa Bay Regains Control of ALCS

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Rays Vs Guardians
Rays Vs Guardians

Rasmussen was untouchable for 15 straight batters, Aranda flashed leather at first, and Baker slammed the door for his 35th consecutive save as Tampa Bay edged Cleveland 3-1 in Game 5 to move one win from the World Series.


Aranda's diving snag, Rasmussen's dominance lead Rays past Guardians 3-1...


Tampa Bay moved to within one win of the World Series after a 3-1 victory over Cleveland in Game 5 of the ALCS on Sunday, securing their third trip to the Fall Classic in franchise history is now in sight.


History favours the Rays, with teams leading 3-2 in the LCS advancing to the World Series nearly 82% of the time (13 of 16). The last side to overturn that deficit was the Boston Red Sox in 2004.


The series returns to Tropicana Field for Game 6 on October 19, with the Milwaukee Brewers waiting to discover their World Series opponents. Both Tampa Bay and Milwaukee are chasing a first championship, while Cleveland are aiming to end a drought stretching back to 1948.



Rays Strike Early

Tampa Bay made an immediate breakthrough to open the scoring.


With two outs and the bases loaded, Jonny DeLuca drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run and put the Rays 1-0 up. Cleveland challenged the call, but the decision stood, and Parker Messick managed to escape the jam before further damage was done.






The Rays doubled their advantage in the second, moving 2-0 ahead with three singles. Jonathan Aranda drove in Ben Williamson with an RBI single for the second run, but Messick limited the damage by closing the inning with two strikeouts.


That was it for Messick after two innings. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks, striking out three on 57 pitches, 34 of which were strikes.




Aranda carried his hot form into the field in the bottom of the second.


He produced a standout defensive play with a diving stop at first base, then flipped to Rasmussen to record the final out. Patrick Bailey was forced into a groundout to wrap up a clean 1-2-3 inning.




The Rays found another run in the third, this time off reliever Tim Herrin.


Chandler Simpson sparked the rally with a lead-off double, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. After missing a chance with the bases loaded in the first, Liam Hicks made amends by driving Simpson home with an RBI single to centre to extend the lead to 3-0.




Rasmussen delivered another perfect frame in the bottom of the third to quickly send the Rays back to the plate. Aranda moved up to second on a single after Steven Kwan threw out Taylor Walls at home from left field, stopping Tampa Bay from scoring in four consecutive innings.


Victor Mesa Jr. entered as a pinch-hitter for Ryan Vilade, but Shawn Armstrong got him to fly out to end the threat.






Rasmussen once again showed why he has been the Rays' ace this season. He retired the Guardians on four batters in the bottom of the fourth before producing another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth.


After giving up a single to Chase DeLauter in the bottom of the first, Rasmussen held Cleveland hitless for the next 15 batters, until the Guardians finally began to respond.


Brayan Rocchio ended the run with a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth, followed by another single from Jose Ramirez to put runners on the corners. DeLauter then brought Kwan home from third with a groundout, picking up his sixth RBI of the postseason.




Rasmussen got Jo Adell to pop out to end the sixth, then closed out the seventh with a double play. He finished the night after seven strong innings on 95 pitches, 67 for strikes, allowing just one run on four hits, one walk and six strikeouts.


The ace has now surrendered only three runs across three postseason starts, covering 21 innings.




After Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith kept the Rays' bats quiet in the top of the eighth, it was Cam Booser's turn following Rasmussen's exit.


Tyler Wells was brought in after Booser recorded the first two outs of the inning and delivered in the clutch, striking out Ramirez to close the frame.


Booser remains unscored upon this postseason, with three scoreless innings across five appearances, while Wells continued his strong run after tossing two shutout innings in Game 3.




Smith stayed on for the top of the ninth to keep the Guardians within striking distance. Mesa Jr. drove a ball deep to centre that looked as though it might have clipped the top of the wall or cleared it for a home run.


Either way, Kwan brought the inning to a close without any further damage from the Rays, continuing his excellent work in the outfield.




Unfortunately, the strong fielding wasn't enough to change the outcome.


Tampa Bay turned to closer Bryan Baker to finish the game. It wasn't as smooth as planned. Baker walked DeLauter, then put Adell aboard on a fielder's choice after second baseman Richie Palacios spiked the ball while attempting to turn a double play.


Baker got Nathaniel Lowe to pop out, then sealed the win by forcing Travis Bazzana into a groundout as the series shifts back to Tampa. The save was Baker's 35th in a row dating back to the regular season....
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