Latest / Tampa Bay Rays Weekly / Tampa Bay Rays Game Review — Oct 16, 2026: 0-0 vs Cleveland Guardians

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Tampa Bay Rays Game Review — Oct 16, 2026: 0-0 vs Cleveland Guardians · Tampa Bay Rays Weekly

0:00
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, it's Mike Michelson coming to you from Cleveland
0:04
Speaker 1: where tonight's baseball got washed out and we're all sitting
0:07
Speaker 1: around wondering when we get to watch some raised baseball.
0:10
Speaker 1: Game four of the American League Championship Series between Tampa
0:14
Speaker 1: Bay and Cleveland postponed due to rain, 0-0. No innings played,
0:19
Speaker 1: no pitches thrown, just water falling from the sky and
0:22
Speaker 1: a whole lot of us refreshing our phones for updates.
0:26
Speaker 1: I know this is frustrating. You set your evening aside.
0:29
Speaker 1: You got the snacks ready. You put on your raised gear.
0:31
Speaker 1: You queued up TBS. And Mother Nature said, not tonight, friend.
0:36
Speaker 1: That's baseball in October, though.
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Speaker 2: It happens.
0:39
Speaker 1: And honestly, if there's one team that can handle an
0:41
Speaker 1: interruption better than most, it's this Tampa Bay club. We've
0:45
Speaker 1: got the deepest bullpen in the league. We've got the
0:48
Speaker 1: most versatile roster. And we've got a manager who spent
0:51
Speaker 1: years building a team that can adapt to whatever the
0:53
Speaker 1: moment demands. So a postponement, that's just another Tuesday for us,
0:58
Speaker 1: except it's not a Tuesday. It's Friday night in October.
1:02
Speaker 1: We're up two games to one in the ALCS. And
1:05
Speaker 1: every hour that passes without playing feels like an eternity.
1:09
Speaker 1: Let me set the stage for anyone tuning in for
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Speaker 1: the first time. The Rays are 98 and 64. 98
1:15
Speaker 1: wins means we've earned this moment. We've earned the right
1:18
Speaker 1: to be here in Cleveland in October with a chance
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Speaker 1: to punch our ticket to the World Series. And the Guardians,
1:23
Speaker 1: they're scrappy, they're dangerous, and they just won game three
1:26
Speaker 1: to make this a 2-1 series. Petey Halpin, the rookie outfielder,
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Speaker 1: hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning that flipped
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Speaker 1: the script and gave Cleveland a lead they never gave back.
1:36
Speaker 1: That bad flip, I watched it on replay about 40 times,
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Speaker 1: not because I enjoyed it, because I wanted to remember
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Speaker 1: exactly what it felt like to be on the wrong
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Speaker 1: side of a moment like that. Halpin turned on it
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Speaker 1: and sent it into the bleachers while Patrick Bailey had
1:50
Speaker 1: already reached on a chopper that nobody could handle. Two runs,
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Speaker 1: game over, basically. And here's what keeps me up at
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Speaker 1: night about that game. 13 strikeouts. Our lineup, the one
2:01
Speaker 1: that posted the lowest strikeout rate in all of baseball
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Speaker 1: this season at 18.8%. struck out 13 times against Cleveland's
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Speaker 1: pitching staff. 13, that's not us. That's not what this
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Speaker 1: team does all year. We put the ball in play,
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Speaker 1: we grind out at bats, we make pitchers throw strikes,
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Speaker 1: and then we punish them when they do. But in
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Speaker 1: game three, something got away from us. Maybe it was
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Speaker 1: the moment, maybe it was Cleveland's stuff on a given night, maybe.
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Speaker 2: It was both.
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Speaker 1: Either way, we've got some correcting to do when we
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Speaker 1: get back out there. Now let's talk about what's coming.
2:34
Speaker 1: The Guardians have planned to use Sean Armstrong as an
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Speaker 1: opener for tonight's game, which is now tomorrow night's game.
2:40
Speaker 1: Armstrong opening in the ALCS tells you everything about how
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Speaker 1: Cleveland is approaching this series. They're throwing everything at the
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Speaker 1: wall and hoping something sticks. They don't have a traditional
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Speaker 1: five-man rotation that can carry them through a seven-game series
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Speaker 1: against a team like ours, so they're getting creative. Bullpen
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Speaker 1: heavy short leash trying to keep our hitters off balance
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Speaker 1: by changing arms every two innings if they have to.
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Speaker 1: And honestly, that's a smart strategy against a lot of teams.
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Speaker 1: Against us, it's a problem. We're used to facing one
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Speaker 1: starter for five or six innings and then keying in
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Speaker 1: on the relievers. When you get a new arm every inning,
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Speaker 1: it resets your timing, it resets your approach, and it
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Speaker 1: can make even the best hitters feel like they're starting
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Speaker 1: from scratch every time they step.
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Speaker 2: In the box.
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Speaker 1: But here's why I'm not panicking. We face bullpen games
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Speaker 1: all season long. Our hitters are disciplined, they're patient, and
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Speaker 1: they're good at adjusting mid at bat. The 13 strikeouts
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Speaker 1: from Game 3 are a blip, not a trend. And
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Speaker 1: when you've got a lineup that can string together hits
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Speaker 1: in bunches, that can manufacture runs in any number of ways,
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Speaker 1: you don't.
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Speaker 2: Need to be perfect. You just need to be a
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Speaker 2: little better than they are.
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Speaker 1: On our side, Nick Martinez was slated to start. If
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Speaker 1: the game is rescheduled for Saturday, he's probably still the guy.
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Speaker 1: Martinez has been our workhorse all year. He gives us
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Speaker 1: six or seven innings of solid, no-drama baseball. He doesn't
4:00
Speaker 1: blow people away with velocity, and he doesn't need to.
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Speaker 2: He locates.
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Speaker 1: He changes speeds. He keeps the ball on the ground,
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Speaker 1: and he lets our defense do its thing. In a
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Speaker 1: series like this, where every run matters and every out
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Speaker 1: is precious, that kind of pitcher is gold. He's not
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Speaker 1: going to give up the big blow early. He's going
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Speaker 1: to keep us in it and let the offense figure
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Speaker 1: things out. And that's what I want to see. I
4:20
Speaker 1: want to see us grind it out. I want to
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Speaker 1: see six innings from Martinez where we're either tied or
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Speaker 1: up by a run. I want to see our bullpen
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Speaker 1: come in and shut the door. I want to see
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Speaker 1: us win a low-scoring, ugly, beautiful baseball game and take
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Speaker 1: a 3-1 lead in the ALCS because if we do that,
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Speaker 1: if we get up 3-1, this series is basically over.
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Speaker 1: Cleveland has to win four out of four against our bullpen,
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Speaker 1: against our depth, against a team that has already proven
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Speaker 1: it can play winning baseball in October. I'm not counting
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Speaker 1: them out. I never count anybody out. But the math
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Speaker 1: is what it is. And the math says that getting
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Speaker 1: to 3-1 would be a devastating blow to Cleveland's chances.
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Speaker 2: So that's the goal. That's the mission.
5:00
Speaker 1: Win tomorrow night and we put our foot on their throat.
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Speaker 1: In the meantime, I'm going to do what every frustrated
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Speaker 1: baseball fan does when the game gets rained out. I'm
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Speaker 1: going to rewatch game one, rewatch game two, go through
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Speaker 1: the highlight reels and remind myself why this team is special,
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Speaker 1: why we've earned this moment, and why tomorrow night is
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Speaker 1: going to be worth every single minute of this wait.
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Speaker 2: So hang in there, Rays fans.
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Speaker 1: Tomorrow night we play ball, and when we do, we're
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Speaker 1: going to send a message that this series belongs in
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Speaker 1: Tampa Bay.
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Speaker 2: I'm Mike Michelson. See you tomorrow night. Go Rays.