The Cleveland Guardians moved ahead in the American League Championship Series on Thursday with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 at Progressive Field. Petey Halpin supplied the decisive swing, hitting a two-run homer in the fifth inning that turned a one-run deficit into a lead Cleveland never gave back.
The victory gave the Guardians a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series and put them two wins from their first World Series appearance since 2016. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday in Cleveland, although rain remains in the forecast.
Cleveland scored first in the second inning. Jo Adell reached after successfully challenging a called third strike and drawing a walk, then Nathaniel Lowe drove him home with a double to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay answered in the fourth after Gavin Williams had retired the first nine hitters he faced. Yandy Díaz doubled to open the inning and Victor Mesa Jr. later reached before Chandler Simpson lined a two-run triple down the right-field line. The hit put the Rays ahead 2-1 and accounted for all of Tampa Bay's scoring.
The Guardians quickly responded in the fifth. Patrick Bailey opened the inning with a chopper that Rays starter Griffin Jax could not field cleanly, but the play was scored as an infield single rather than an error.
That distinction matters because the original account of the game described Bailey's play as an error that directly produced a run. In fact, Bailey reached safely and then scored when Halpin followed with the game's biggest hit.
Halpin worked the count to 2-2 before Jax left a 95.9 mph sinker over the plate. Halpin drove it 385 feet to right-center field at an exit velocity of 105 mph, according to MLB Statcast data. The two-run homer gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead.
It was Halpin's first home run of the postseason and only the fifth of his major league career. It also was the first home run Jax had allowed since Sept. 9.
Halpin's reaction became one of the defining images of the game. He watched the ball carry toward the seats, then sent his bat high into the air before starting around the bases. Afterward, he described the moment as the biggest of his career and said the excitement of the situation took over.
The home run was enough because Cleveland's pitching staff shut down Tampa Bay the rest of the way. Williams allowed two runs on two hits and one walk across five innings while striking out nine.
Daniel Espino, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith handled the final four innings. Smith recorded the last four outs for his second save of the series.
The Guardians allowed only three hits in the entire game and struck out 13 Tampa Bay hitters. Reuters reported that Cleveland reached 102 strikeouts through its first eight postseason games, a major league record for that span.
Williams has been central to that run of dominant pitching. After carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning of Cleveland's decisive Division Series win over the Chicago White Sox, he again controlled a postseason lineup for long stretches Thursday. He retired Tampa Bay in order in each of the first three innings before Díaz's fourth-inning double broke the pattern.
The Rays did little after Simpson's triple. Tampa Bay hitters were retired in order in seven different innings, and Junior Caminero struck out four times. The Rays' three hits were their fewest in an ALCS game across the franchise's three appearances in the round.
Jax took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits in four-plus innings. He struck out two and walked two. After the game, Jax said the pitch choice to Halpin was appropriate but the location was not.
The start also carried a historical note. Jax, an Air Force Reserve captain, became the first pitcher who graduated from a United States service academy to start a postseason game.
Cleveland's win continued a strong turnaround after the Guardians fell behind the White Sox 2-0 in the American League Division Series. They won three straight games to take that series and have now won five of their last six postseason games.
The ALCS had been tied after the first two games in Tampa Bay. Cleveland took Game 1 by a 7-3 score after breaking a late tie, while the Rays answered with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 behind Freddy Peralta and a three-run fourth inning.
By winning Game 3, the Guardians regained the series lead and kept home-field pressure on Tampa Bay. Major League Baseball noted that teams winning Game 3 of a best-of-seven postseason series after entering the game tied 1-1 have historically gone on to win the series more often than not.
Cleveland still needs two victories to advance, and the weather could affect the schedule. The start of Game 3 had already been moved up by five hours because of the threat of rain, and Friday's forecast has created more uncertainty around Game 4.
For Tampa Bay, the immediate challenge is generating more consistent offense against a Cleveland staff that has piled up strikeouts throughout October. The Rays have shown they can pressure the Guardians, but they had only one scoring inning Thursday.
For Cleveland, Halpin's homer turned a close game and shifted the series. The Guardians now have the advantage in the ALCS, with the next scheduled game set for Friday at Progressive Field.