The Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays will meet in the American League Championship Series (ALCS), with Cleveland advancing after overturning a 2-0 series deficit against the Chicago White Sox.
The Guardians won the deciding fifth game 2-0 on Saturday, while the Rays secured their place with a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees.
Cleveland are chasing their first World Series appearance since 2016, while Tampa Bay are seeking their third after reaching the final in 2008 and 2020.
The Rays dominated their regular-season meetings, winning five of six games and outscoring the Guardians 20-8. Notably, Cleveland failed to score in three of those defeats.
Their first series at Progressive Field in April began with consecutive one-run victories for Tampa Bay.
The Rays won the opener 3-2 on April 27 before Nick Martinez pitched seven-plus scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory the following day.
Cleveland avoided a sweep with a 3-1 win in the finale, helped by Gavin Williams’ 7.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
However, the Guardians had no such response when the teams met again at Tropicana Field in July.
Tampa Bay opened with an 11-3 victory on July 24, collecting 15 hits in the highest-scoring game between the teams this season.
Martinez then held Cleveland scoreless over six innings in a 3-0 win, with Junior Caminero contributing a run-scoring double.
Drew Rasmussen completed the sweep by allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory.
The teams last met in the postseason in 2022, when Cleveland swept Tampa Bay in their Wild Card Series.
This time, a World Series place will be at stake when the best-of-seven ALCS begins at Tropicana Field on Monday.
Fans can watch the MLB postseason live on SPOTV NOW.
