ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are going back to the World Series. Beating Cleveland 7-3 in Game 6 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Monday night closed out the American League Championship Series, four games to two, in front of a sold-out home crowd of 40,230.
Tampa Bay grabbed the lead early when Richie Palacios lined a two-run double in the second inning. Junior Caminero, a 42-homer hitter in the regular season, finally connected for his first postseason home run in the seventh, a two-run drive that hit the left-field foul pole against Cleveland closer Cade Smith. Yandy Díaz, who had promised a Game 6 win a day earlier, added another two-run shot.
Starter Freddy Peralta worked 5 1/3 innings and gave up one run on five hits, walking three and striking out three. That outing, paired with six scoreless innings in Game 2, earned him the series MVP award. Peralta came to Tampa Bay from the New York Mets in a deadline trade and has a 1.08 ERA and two wins without a loss this postseason.
Cleveland made it tense in the eighth, scoring twice with the bases loaded before reliever Kevin Kelly fanned Brayan Rocchio for the third out. Bryan Baker was on the mound for the final out. The Guardians used seven pitchers and issued six walks on the night.
The pennant came 18 years to the day after the franchise won its first one in 2008, and it marks the third World Series trip in the club’s 29 seasons. It also caps a comeback for the ballpark itself: the Trop needed major repairs after Hurricane Milton tore the roof two years ago, and the Rays spent 2025 playing home games in Tampa before returning to St. Petersburg this year and winning 55 times at home.
Tampa Bay will now meet the Milwaukee Brewers, and neither franchise has ever won a World Series title.
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