Latest / Tampa Bay Rays Weekly / Tampa Bay Rays Game Review — Oct 18, 2026: 3-1 vs Cleveland Guardians

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Tampa Bay Rays Game Review — Oct 18, 2026: 3-1 vs Cleveland Guardians · Tampa Bay Rays Weekly

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome back. I'm Mike Michelson, and if you're
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: listening to this right now, you probably already know what
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: happened tonight, but let me say it one more time
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: so it can sink in. One win, the Tampa Bay
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Rays are one victory away from the World Series, and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: they get that chance Monday night in front of our
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: own people at Tropicana Field. I still can't quite believe
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I'm saying that. So grab a cold one, settle in,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and let's talk about how we got here. The emotional
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: center of tonight is Drew Rasmussen. Seven innings, one run,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: four hits, six strikeouts, 95 pitches. He was absolutely surgical
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: out there in Cleveland. And if you watch this game,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: you saw how he just kept dialing up pitch after
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: pitch that the Guardians had no answer for. The man
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is 2-0 in this postseason with a 129 ERA across
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: three starts. 21 innings, three runs allowed total. That's not
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: a fluke. That's a pitcher who has figured out how
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: to be great when it matters most. But what made
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: this game so satisfying wasn't just the pitching. It was
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: the way the offense applied pressure from the very first
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: pitch of the night. Yandy Diaz led off with a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: line drive double over Petey Halpin that bounced on the
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: warning track and off the wall. And from there, the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Rays just kept getting leadoff men on base. Inning after inning,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the leadoff hitter reached in the first four frames and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: scored in three of them. That's not something you plan for.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: That's a lineup that has found a rhythm and refuses
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: to let up. In the first inning, they loaded the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: bases and Johnny DeLuca drew a walk to force in Diaz. 1-0.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Not the flashiest way to score, but it got the
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: job done and put Parker Messick right where they wanted him.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Messick was struggling from the jump. 57 pitches, only 34
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: for strikes. Five hits, two runs, and he never made
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: it out of the third inning. That was the shortest
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: outing of his big league career. And honestly, you could
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: see the wheels coming off pretty early. Cleveland's bullpen had
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to cover six innings tonight, and that is a tall
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: order in October. The second inning was where Jonathan Aranda
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: stepped up. He singled through the left side and Ben
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Williamson cruised in from third, 2-0. Aranda had two hits
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: on the night and drove in a run, and he's
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: been one of those quiet contributors who just keeps showing
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: up when you need him. Then the third inning brought
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Liam Hicks into the spotlight with a blooper to shallow
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: center that scored Chandler Simpson, who had led off the
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: frame with a double 3-0. A blooper 69.5 miles per
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: hour off his bat against Tim Herron, a tough left-on-left matchup,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and you know what? I don't care. It scored a
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: run in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: and that's all that matters. The Guardians finally got on
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the board in the sixth when Chase DeLoda grounded out
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and Stephen Kwan scored one run. That was it for
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Cleveland's offense tonight. And here's the thing, that run came
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: on a ground out, not a hit. They were getting
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: outs and runs were still crossing the plate, which speaks
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: to how they kept chipping away even when they weren't
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: hitting the ball hard. But one run against Rasmussen, That's
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: not enough to beat this Rays team when they're playing
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: this well. Now I have to give credit where it's due.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Stephen Kwan made two fine defensive plays tonight. He threw
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: out Taylor Walls trying to score from second on Aranda's
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: single in the fourth. And then in the eighth, he
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: made a leaping catch at the center field wall on
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Victor Mesa Jr. 's drive that saved another run. Four-time
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Gold Glove winner doing what four-time Gold Glove winners do.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: If we're going to the World Series, we're going to
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: face defense like that every night. But tonight, it wasn't
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: enough to keep us off the board early, and the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: lead was already three runs by then. The back end
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: of the bullpen did exactly what it needed to do.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Cam Busser and Tyler Wells split the eighth, and Wells
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: struck out Jose Ramirez to strand a runner. That's the
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: kind of at-bat that can flip a game, and Wells
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: just blew him away. Then Brian Baker came in for
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the ninth and closed it out. 35 straight save opportunities converted.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Five saves this postseason alone. The man is a machine.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Travis Bazzana hit a routine ground out to second base
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to end it. And just like that, the Rays were
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: celebrating on the field in Cleveland. Here's why this matters
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: beyond tonight. Since the ALCS expanded to best of seven
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: in 1985, Road teams who win game five to take
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: a 3-2 lead have gone on to win the series
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: four out of five times. The odds are in our favor.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: The series is coming back to Tampa Bay where we've
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: been a fortress this postseason, and the Guardians, they face
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: elimination Monday night. They have been good on the road
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: this year, 3-1, so they're not going to just roll over,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: but they have to win at the Trop or go home.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: The World Series starts Friday in Milwaukee against the NL champion.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Can you even process that? If we win Monday, we're
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: packing up for Wisconsin on Thursday. The trop is going
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to be electric. It's going to be loud. And I
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: hope every single one of you is there or watching
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: from your couch with the volume cranked to 11. What
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I keep coming back to is the balance of this team.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Rasmussen goes out and gives you seven innings of one
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: run ball. The offense doesn't need home runs. They don't
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: need dramatic grand slams. They just keep putting the leadoff
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: man on base. They keep manufacturing runs and they make
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the other team's bullpen work. 12 hits tonight, no home runs,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: three walks, two stolen bases. That is small ball with teeth.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: That's a team that knows exactly who they are and
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  Speaker 1: refuses to deviate from it. And the defense, zero errors tonight,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: not one in a postseason game where every single play
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: carries weight. Not making a mistake is just as important
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: as making the highlight reel play. The infield turned that
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: 6-4-3 double play in the seventh to erase a threat,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and everything else just clicked. So here we are, three
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: games to two, one win, Monday night at the Tro.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I'm already counting down
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the hours. Get some rest tonight because tomorrow night is
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: going to be special. This is our moment. This is
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: the series we've been building toward all season long, and
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: we are standing on the doorstep. I'm Mike Michelson. Go Rays.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I'll see you Monday.