MLB

Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Guardians

· Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays
73-76, 36-38 Away
Final
1 - 6
Cleveland Guardians
85-64, 44-27 Home

Thomas and Ramírez hit HRs, Cantillo pitches 5 scoreless innings and Guardians beat Rays 6-1

The Guardians remained three games ahead of second-place Kansas City in the division with 13 games remaining. Cleveland has the best home record in the AL at 44-27 and is 85-64 overall, second in the league to the New York Yankees.

Cantillo (2-3) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out six in just his second start at Progressive Field. The left-hander threw 6 2/3 perfect innings — and worked a career-high seven — in earning his first win Monday at the White Sox.

“Every game, you’ve obviously got to do different things, but it comes down to executing your pitches,” Cantillo said. “I was just glad to throw in front of the home crowd, honestly. It’s been about a month since I’ve done that, so it was a lot of fun.”

Thomas and Ramírez hit solo homers off Hunter Bigge. They also scored two runs apiece, while cleanup hitter Josh Naylor had a two-RBI single in the sixth that extended the Guardians’ lead to 4-0.

Naylor’s single through a drawn-in infield ignited a three-run inning against Tyler Alexander (6-5). David Fry added a sacrifice fly to plate Ramírez, who had been intentionally walked for a franchise-record 88th time.

“Some of our aggressive at-bats today worked out and we scored a lot of runs out of it,” said center fielder Thomas, who also threw out Josh Lowe at home in the fifth. “You’ve just got to go have fun out there. It’s a fun game.”

Junior Caminero had a career-high three doubles for the Rays, driving in their only run in the eighth. Tampa Bay is 5 1/2 games out of the final AL wild-card berth after Minnesota's 11-1 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, and fell to 4-5 on a 10-game trip through Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cleveland.

“Junior is super impressive and he’s going to continue to show everyone his tools for years to come,” Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said. “He’s going to have a long career here.”

Tampa Bay appeared to go in front in the fifth on Jose Siri’s single, but a replay review overturned the safe call at home on Lowe. Thomas’ throw and Austin Hedges’ tag just beat Lowe’s left hand to the plate.

“Lane saved my butt there,” Cantillo said. “That was huge.”

Alexander pitched five innings and gave up four runs in relief of Drew Rasmussen, who went two innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: 2B Christopher Morel (right Achilles discomfort) was held out of the lineup one day after being removed in the third inning in Cleveland. Manager Kevin Cash said Morel “feels better now than he did when he came out of the game.”

Guardians: OF Steven Kwan (mid-low back tightness), who was a late scratch Friday, is considered day to day and will not be placed on the injured list. The All-Star left fielder underwent medical tests that revealed no structural damage.

UP NEXT

Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-10, 4.40 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Ben Lively (11-9, 4.01 ERA) in the four-game series finale. Lively was struck on his right leg by Dominic Fletcher’s liner in his last start Tuesday against the White Sox, exiting after 1 2/3 innings.

How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians?
  • TV Channel: Rays at Guardians 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Guardians: 51.0%
Rays: 49.0%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Walls lined out to second.
9th Inning Carlson walked.
9th Inning Carlson hit for Siri
9th Inning J. Lowe struck out swinging.
9th Inning Aranda flied out to left.
9th Inning Sandlin relieved Gaddis

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/cle.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLE
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
9 Ground Balls 11
12 Strikeouts 6
1 Runs Batted In 6
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
6 Hits 8
1 Stolen Bases 1
2 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
1 Runs 6
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 1
33 At Bats 30
0 Home Runs 2
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
15 Runners Left On Base 7
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 1
3 Doubles 2
12 Fly Balls 14
0 Caught Stealing 0
140 Pitches 108
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
9 Total Bases 16
35 Plate Appearances 33
0.0 Projected Home Runs 324.0
3 Extra Base Hits 4
2.0 Runs Created 4.9
.182 Batting Average .267
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.273 Slugging Percentage .533
.182 Secondary Average .367
.229 On Base Percentage .303
.501 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .836
0.8 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.8
2.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 5.5
17.0 Batter Rating 43.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 15.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.00 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.27
.091 Isolated Power .267
0.17 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.33
.057 Walks Per Plate Appearance .061
.000 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .100
2.0 Runs Produced 12.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.6
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
67.0 MLB Rating 89.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Progressive Field

Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 31,362 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2
Full Standings