Game result and context
Rays 7, Guardians 3: Tampa Bay's bats wake up to even the ALCS at 2-2
After scoring 3, 3 and 2 runs in the first three games of the ALCS, Tampa Bay put up seven on 11 hits at Progressive Field. Jonathan Aranda, hitless in the series, went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Junior Caminero lined a double to left in the top of the sixth inning, Jonathan Aranda scored, and the Tampa Bay Rays had a lead they would not give back. The 2-1 edge turned into a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night at Progressive Field, and the series is tied 2-2.
The hit was the biggest swing of the night, dropping Cleveland's win probability by 17 points to 20 percent. It also marked a change for an offense that had been stuck. Tampa Bay scored 3, 3 and 2 runs in the first three games of the series, and it entered October having scored 4.72 runs per game in September. Through tonight the Rays are scoring 3.57 runs per game this postseason. Against Cleveland on Saturday they had 11 hits and still left 14 men on base.
Aranda was at the center of it. He went 0-for-3, 0-for-3 and 0-for-4 in the first three games of the series, then finished 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs and two RBI. His line-drive single to center in the third scored Yandy Díaz and tied the game 1-1, answering Chase DeLauter's RBI single in the bottom of the first. In the seventh, Aranda singled to right with two on; Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls scored, and Aranda took third when DeLauter misplayed the ball for one of Cleveland's two errors. Chandler Simpson's sacrifice fly brought Aranda home for a 5-1 lead. Aranda's postseason average now stands at .269, close to his .274 regular-season mark.
Palacios also had three hits and scored twice, raising his postseason average to .333. Díaz, who has struck out nine times in 30 postseason at-bats, including three tonight, hit his first home run of October in the ninth, a two-run shot to right that scored Palacios and made it 7-3. It was also his first postseason RBI.
Nick Martinez gave Tampa Bay the length it needed. He allowed one earned run on two hits over 5.1 innings, throwing 79 pitches, and earned the win. His only other postseason start lasted 3.2 innings against the Yankees. Five relievers covered the rest, with Ian Seymour giving up two earned runs on four hits in the seventh.
Those two runs came on Travis Bazzana's first homer of the postseason and an RBI single by Brayan Rocchio that cut the deficit to 5-3. Bazzana went 2-for-3, but he is hitting .200 this postseason. Cleveland did not score again and left 10 on base. José Ramírez, hitting .333 this postseason, went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Cleveland used seven pitchers. Shawn Armstrong worked a scoreless first and Foster Griffin struck out five over 3.2 innings, allowing one earned run. Daniel Espino, who had not allowed a run in his two earlier ALCS appearances, walked two and gave up a run in one-third of an inning and took the loss. The Guardians blew 18 saves in 64 chances during the regular season.
The teams have now traded wins through four games, with Cleveland taking Games 1 and 3 and Tampa Bay Games 2 and 4. The series is a best-of-three from here.