Guardians beat Rays 7-3 in ALCS opener

ST. PETERSBURG — The Cleveland Guardians scored twice in the eighth inning and three more times in the ninth to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay struck quickly. Junior Caminero singled home Yandy Díaz in the first inning, and Jonny DeLuca followed with a single that scored Caminero to give the Rays a 2-0 lead against Foster Griffin.

Cleveland answered with solo home runs. Chase DeLauter connected off Drew Rasmussen in the sixth, and Patrick Bailey homered off Rasmussen in the seventh to tie the game 2-2.

The Guardians went ahead in the eighth. José Ramírez singled and DeLauter doubled off Tyler Wells, and Nathaniel Lowe greeted Ian Seymour with a single that scored both runners. Cedric Mullins cut the lead to 4-3 with a home run off Erik Sabrowski in the bottom of the inning, but Cleveland pulled away in the ninth. Ramírez singled home Angel Martínez, and Jo Adell doubled home DeLauter and Ramírez to make it 7-3.

Griffin gave Cleveland four innings and allowed two runs. Five Guardians relievers covered the final five innings, with Hunter Gaddis earning the win and Cade Smith finishing with a perfect ninth.

Rasmussen struck out seven without a walk over six innings for Tampa Bay and allowed two runs, but Wells took the loss after being charged with both runs in the eighth. DeLauter finished with three hits, three runs scored and a home run, while Ramírez had three hits and scored twice. Cleveland outhit Tampa Bay 14-7, and neither team committed an error.

In the NLCS, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 to take a 2-0 series lead. The ALCS continues Tuesday in Tampa Bay, with Game 2 set for 6 p.m. MT.

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