Guardians Sting Rays With ALCS Game 1 Victory

Stats show one picture, but sometimes it’s more important for a manager to look more at the matchups and feel the moment when making in-game decisions, especially in the playoffs.

On paper, Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt should have pinch-hit for Nathaniel Lowe when the Tampa Bay Rays brought in the left-hander Ian Seymour with runners on second and third in the eighth inning.

Instead, Vogt opted to let the first baseman with just five hits in 45 at-bats (.111 AVG) off southpaws in the regular season hit in the critical moment. That decision might have just sealed the deal for the Guardians as Lowe crushed a base hit into center field, scoring two runs and giving Cleveland the lead.

In large part because of that hit, the Guardians went on to beat the Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Despite the final score, Cleveland wasn’t always in control of the game for all nine innings.

The winning formula for all teams this postseason has been scoring first. The Guardians looked like they could do just that in the top of the first inning with two hits off Drew Rasmussen, but their scoring threat was shut down before it really got started.

On the other hand, the Rays took advantage of Cleveland’s starter Foster Griffin’s shaky command and scored two early runs on four hits in the bottom of the first.

However, Griffin really settled in after a long first inning. He ended up retiring 10 of the next 11 batters before Cleveland started to get activity brewing in the bullpen.

The Guardians had great at-bats through the first five innings off Rasmussen, but nothing on the scoreboard to show for it. That was until the rookie Chase DeLauter crushed an opposite-field home run to lead off the fifth inning, making it a one-run ballgame

It looked like Kevin Cash was going to turn the game over to his bullpen in the top of the seventh inning, but he sent his starter in for one more batter. Cash may think about that decision late Monday night.

On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Patrick Bailey ripped a ball over the center field wall to tie the game at two runs, his second home run of the postseason.

When the game was tied at two runs apiece, Lowe came up clutch to put the Guardians ahead for good with his two-run single.

Just like during Cleveland’s two wins on the road in the ALDS, Cleveland poured on more runs late to seal the deal.

Thanks to DeLauter, Jose Ramirez, and Jo Adell, the Guardians poured in a total of five more runs in the final two innings of the game to officially put the game out of reach for Tampa Bay.

Stealing Game 1 on the road could end up being huge for the Guardians as the series carries on. However, Cleveland’s mindset is that the job is far from done.

The Guardians will look to take a 2-0 series lead on Tuesday evening when Game 2 gets underway at 8:00 PM.