ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — For yet another season, Cleveland baseball fans will have to wait.
The city’s proud major league franchise still hasn’t won a World Series since 1948.
After the Guardians fell a little short once again with a 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, it will be the Rays meeting the Milwaukee Brewers in the Fall Classic — the first once since 1980 between teams seeking their first World Series title.
“Yeah, let it hurt,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said he told his club. “That hurts. I couldn’t be more proud of our group. It just hurts. It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go and just weren’t able to get there.”
Seemingly in control of the best-of-seven ALCS after winning two of the first three games, José Ramírez and the Guardians are left to lament three straight losses. Tampa Bay used clear superiority in its starting rotation, bullpen and late-series offense to eliminate Cleveland.
Seeing the Guardians’ best relievers repeatedly – including opener Shawn Armstrong in Game 4 on Saturday and again Monday in Game 6 — the Rays improved their swings as the series progressed.
Cleveland’s staff, which struck out 27 batters over the first three games, didn’t get its first strikeout Monday until Daniel Espino fanned Victor Mesa Jr. in the fifth inning.
By then, Tampa Bay held a 3-0 lead, grinding out runs in trademark fashion. And, as they did over the prior two games, the Rays’ pitching staff kept the Guardians at arm’s length.
“It just seemed like when we had the hit that we wanted, just runners weren’t where they needed to be,” designated hitter Jo Adell said. “That’s the name of the game. And they threw the ball well. I give credit where credit’s due. They did a phenomenal job throwing the baseball and playing their game and we came up short. We weren’t able to match that.”
The Guardians nearly matched it in the eighth, when they almost overcame a 5-1 deficit. Chase DeLauter was initially ruled out on a grounder, but Cleveland challened and the call was overturned after a replay review, giving the rookie his second hit of the game. After Nathaniel Lowe’s single, Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in struggling left-hander Ian Seymour, who promptly loaded the bases by walking Travis Bazzana.
Seymour then walked Patrick Bailey to score DeLatuer, and hit Angel Martínez with a pitch to force in Lowe and make it 5-3.
But with the bases still loaded, Kevin Kelly entered and struck out Brayan Rocchio on three pitches.
“We fought every pitch,” Bazzana said. “We went down 5-1 and fought back when it looked like it was over. Obviously, that’s not good enough to get it done, but that just shows some of the character that we have in this clubhouse.”
Cleveland led the AL with 41 comeback victories this season, but fatigue clearly caught up with the Guardians as Tampa Bay closed out the series. The Guardians didn’t hold a lead over the final 25 innings.
And Vogt was left wondering whether ace Gavin Williams, who struck out nine over five innings in his Game 3 victory, would’ve been the better option Monday on three days’ rest.
Instead, the manager used eight relievers Monday, and Tampa Bay showed no hospitality.
The Rays even got to Cleveland’s best reliever, All-Star closer Cade Smith, when the right-hander faced Junior Caminero in the seventh. Caminero pulled Smith’s first-pitch splitter off the left-field foul pole for a two-run homer that gave the Rays a 5-1 lead.
Yandy Díaz added a two-run shot off Hunter Gaddis to make it 7-3 in the eighth.
“That’s a great baseball team,” Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan said. “Great baseball teams win big games. They played defense better than us, hit better than us, they pitched better than us. We didn’t beat ourselves. We got beat. So, as a competitor, I think we can live with that. Disappointing, but that’s a great team over there.”
Cleveland, which won the AL Central and came back to beat the Chicago White Sox in their Division Series by winning three straight, has advanced to the World Series four times since winning its most recent title by beating the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series.
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