With ALCS evened, Guardians look to flush Game 4 and hand ball to Messick

CLEVELAND -- While Guardians reliever Matt Festa was ready to begin the top of the eighth inning on Saturday, center field was oddly vacant. Finally, Steven Kwan emerged from the third-base dugout at Progressive Field, just as the Rays’ Cedric Mullins stepped to the plate.

Why the delay? In the prior inning, Kwan hit a chopper to first base and dove headfirst into the bag, attempting (unsuccessfully) to reach safely -- and also leaving him with a busted lip.

The bloodied gauze that sat in Kwan’s mouth during the eighth was emblematic of the effort you see in the postseason. It was also metaphoric of the state of the American League Championship Series. The Guardians and Rays have been trading blows.

The Guardians lost, 7-3, in Game 4 of the ALCS on Saturday, as the Rays evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

“Now, it's a three-game series,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Cleveland had a chance to take a commanding lead over the Rays. In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams with a 3-1 advantage have gone on to win the series 82 of 96 times (85%). Now, both teams are staring down a pivotal Game 5 that could say a lot about who wins the AL pennant.

In any best-of-series tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has gone on to take the series 46 of 69 times (67%).

What now? The Guardians will turn to lefty Parker Messick in Game 5 for his fourth postseason start. Messick (who started Game 2 on Tuesday) was in line to pitch Game 6 on Monday on normal rest. A postponement Friday allowed him to move up one game, and he’ll square off against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen.

“We've relied on him time and time again, and he's met the challenge every time,” Kwan said of Messick. “So no reason why we shouldn’t feel confident with him going tomorrow.”

Messick has thrown 198 innings between the regular season and playoffs. He has blown past his previous career high (138 1/3 between Cleveland and Triple-A Columbus in 2025), and he has run into some command trouble in the postseason that Vogt has acknowledged could in part be a byproduct of his workload. The lefty allowed three runs (zero earned) on six hits and two walks over five innings in Game 2.

“Honestly, my body feels great,” Messick said. “No complaints of where I'm at. I know I'm kind of soaring well over career high. But I feel great.”

Messick bridging Game 5 to Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski and closer Cade Smith could be the path to victory. They were not among the seven pitchers Cleveland used in a bullpen game on Saturday.

Otherwise, the biggest key is Cleveland throwing away the Game 4 script.

• The Guardians scored three runs on eight hits and three walks. They struck first in the first inning, but Rays starter Nick Martinez settled in and retired 11 straight batters into the fifth inning.

• In Games 1-3, Yandy Díaz and Junior Caminero were a combined 5-for-34 with three extra-base hits and one RBI. Díaz hit a double and a two-run homer in Game 4. Caminero had an RBI double.

• The Rays scored three runs in the seventh as a result of a Chase DeLauter error. A Jonathan Aranda ground ball single went under his glove in right field.

“When it's crunch time like that, whoever plays the best baseball is going to win,” Kwan said. “That sounds kind of simple when you say it out loud. But we didn't play fundamental baseball. We didn't handle the ball. Didn't follow our plans when we really needed to, and that shows.

“You have extreme talent like the top three guys in their lineup did today. So we can't give them free outs, can't give them free pitches.”

It feels like there’s an added layer of urgency for the Guardians Sunday. Their Game 6 pitching situation appears cloudy.

Game 1 starter Foster Griffin threw 44 pitches over 3 2/3 innings of relief on Saturday. Game 3 starter Gavin Williams is in line to start a potential Game 7 on Tuesday on normal rest.

The Guardians may have to lean on their bullpen once more in Game 6. The Rays appear set to trot out Freddy Peralta, who got two outs on Saturday after shutting Cleveland down over six innings in Game 2.

If Cleveland wins Game 5, it will have two chances to secure the pennant. And while Williams would pitch Game 7, the Rays could be in line to throw a bullpen game.

The best-of-three is on.

“I'd put our guys up against any team in the world in a three-game series,” Vogt said. “Of course we would have loved to have taken a 3-1 lead tonight, but it's not in the cards. We can't control that now. We just show up, ready to play a good Game 5, and have a happy flight to Tampa.”