Rays Tie ALCS at Two Games Apiece With 7-3 Win Over Cleveland, Turning Game 5 Into a Pivotal Test

CLEVELAND — The American League Championship Series will not be decided by the early momentum that belonged to the Cleveland Guardians. Tampa Bay's 7-3 victory in Saturday's Game 4 at Progressive Field tied the best-of-seven series at two wins apiece and guaranteed a return to the Rays' home ballpark for Game 6. A series that had threatened to tilt decisively toward Cleveland is now essentially a best-of-three contest.

The victory mattered because of when and how it arrived. Friday's rainout had postponed Game 4, leaving both clubs to reconsider pitching workloads and prepare for a compressed stretch of postseason baseball. Cleveland had moved ahead 2-1 in the series and could have taken a commanding lead with another win. Instead, Tampa Bay's most important hitters delivered at different stages, its starter kept the game under control and the Rays converted opportunities that had too often escaped them earlier in the series.

Junior Caminero produced the central swing in the sixth inning. His run-scoring double into the left-field corner, hit at 110.2 mph according to MLB's Statcast reporting, put the Rays in front. It was a timely breakthrough for a player whose contact had suggested danger even when the results had not followed. A previous deep drive had been caught in center field. The sixth-inning double was not caught, and the scoreboard finally reflected the hard contact.

Tampa Bay's offense did not stop there. Jonathan Aranda drove in two runs during the game, and the Rays added three runs in the seventh inning. Cleveland's defense contributed to the damage when a ball got past outfielder Chase DeLauter and allowed an extra runner to score. Postseason games are often decided by one sequence that produces more than an opponent expects. Tampa Bay's seventh inning was such a sequence: timely contact combined with a mistake that expanded the lead.

Yandy Díaz removed much of the remaining suspense with a two-run home run in the ninth. The opposite-field shot made the final score 7-3 and created separation that mattered against a Cleveland club capable of making late rallies. Díaz, Aranda and Caminero gave Tampa Bay the kind of contributions it needs from the upper portion of its lineup when pitching margins tighten in October.

The Rays also received a strong start from Nick Martinez. He worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run, the first-inning damage coming on a Chase DeLauter RBI single. Tampa Bay had needed a start that would avoid turning the game over to the bullpen too early. Martinez's outing met that requirement. It did not eliminate Cleveland's opportunities, but it prevented the Guardians from forcing the pace while the Rays were still trying to find their offensive footing.

Cleveland answered in the seventh. Travis Bazzana homered, and Brayan Rocchio added an RBI single as the Guardians tried to reclaim some of the momentum lost during Tampa Bay's surge. The rally demonstrated that the home team was far from finished. But Cleveland's runs arrived after the visitors had built too much of a cushion, and the Rays ultimately made the stronger closing plays.