Rays beat Guardians to set up World Series against Brewers

The Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series after beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 on Monday night, setting up a matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers that will give one franchise its first championship.

Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz each hit a two-run homer in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field. Freddy Peralta worked 5 1/3 innings as Tampa Bay won its third pennant in 29 seasons. Game 1 of the World Series is Friday night in Milwaukee.

“We got one more bite!” Rays manager Kevin Cash told his team as the clubhouse celebration began.

The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Richie Palacios’ two-run double and made it 3-0 in the third on Jonny DeLuca’s sacrifice fly. Nathaniel Lowe’s run-scoring single put Cleveland on the board in the sixth.

Caminero, who hit 42 home runs in the regular season, broke through after 33 postseason at-bats without one. His drive off the left-field foul pole against Cade Smith in the seventh pushed Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-1. Díaz, who had guaranteed a Game 6 victory through an interpreter on Sunday, hit a 416-foot shot off Hunter Gaddis in the eighth.

Cleveland threatened in between those homers. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. Patrick Bailey drew a bases-loaded walk, and Angel Martínez was hit by a pitch to force in another run. With the potential go-ahead run at first, Kevin Kelly struck out Brayan Rocchio to end the inning.

“Credit to our guys. It’s a gut punch there in the seventh. And our guys came right back,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Our guys never quit. They never stopped fighting.”

Peralta, named ALCS most valuable player, allowed one run and five hits Monday for his second win of the series. He had pitched six scoreless innings to win Game 2 and recorded two key outs in relief in Game 4. Tampa Bay fell behind Cleveland 1-0 and 2-1 in the series before winning three straight games; it had swept the New York Yankees in the Division Series.

The loss extended Cleveland’s World Series title drought to 78 years. “I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” Vogt said. “It just hurts. It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go and just weren’t able to get there.”

A sellout crowd of 40,230 waved rally towels and rang cowbells at Tropicana Field, which underwent major renovations after Hurricane Milton damaged its roof two years ago. The Rays had played their 2025 home games at the Yankees’ spring training complex in Tampa. They returned to the Trop this season and won 55 regular-season games there, a home-win total matched only by Milwaukee.

“This is for you!” Caminero shouted to the crowd after the game. “Let’s go! I can’t hear you!”

Neither World Series team has won a title. Milwaukee’s lone previous appearance ended in a seven-game loss to St. Louis in 1982; Tampa Bay lost to Philadelphia in 2008 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. This will be the first World Series between two teams seeking their first championship since 1980.