Guardians-Rays ALCS Game 1 FAQ (Mon., 8 ET, TBS/HBO Max)

The Tampa Bay Rays haven’t won a World Series since they came into existence in 1998. That might sound like a long time, and it is … until you remember that the Cleveland Guardians haven’t won it all since 1948, half a century before the Devil Rays first took to the artificial turf at Tropicana Field.

The good news? One of the American League’s perennial small-market powers will get a chance to end its drought this year.

After pushing past the No. 6-seeded White Sox in Game 5 of the AL Division Series, the Guardians earned the right to face the top-seeded Rays in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series, which begins with Game 1 on Monday night at The Trop.

While the Guardians had to grind out a series win all the way through an all-hands-on-deck, win-or-go-home finale at Progressive Field, the Rays have been watching and waiting their turn. Tampa Bay sailed through the ALDS by sweeping the Yankees, an impressive statement by a Rays club that spent nearly all season atop the AL standings.

But these two teams tend to play close games when they take the field together. Just look back to their last postseason matchup in the 2022 AL Wild Card Series, when the Guardians swept the Rays with a 2-1 victory in Game 1 and a 1-0, 15-inning thriller in Game 2.

Or check out the way their season series went this year. While the Rays won five of their six matchups, five games were decided by three runs or fewer -- and half were decided by just one run, including a pair of 1-0 victories by Tampa Bay.

That’s the way it tends to go. Hardly built on household names, these two teams always find a foundation of formidable run prevention. They pitch. They play defense. They don’t beat themselves.

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And there’s plenty of shared DNA here beyond the way they both succeed. Rays All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero was once a Cleveland prospect. (Maybe don’t mention the name Tobias Myers to Guardians fans for the next couple days.) So were DH Yandy Díaz and high-leverage reliever Kevin Kelly.

Kevin Cash was Cleveland’s bullpen coach before becoming the Majors’ longest-tenured manager with Tampa Bay. Stephen Vogt’s Major League career began with an 0-for-27 skid for the Rays before eventually leading him to the Guardians’ dugout.

Cash and Vogt both have a pair of AL Manager of the Year Awards to showcase their mastery at getting the most out of rosters that otherswise might have been underrated or underappreciated. Now, they’re four wins away from a trip to the Fall Classic and a shot at bringing home a long-awaited championship.

When is the game and how can I watch it?

First pitch for Game 1 of the Guardians-Rays American League Championship Series is set for 8 p.m. ET on Monday at Tropicana Field. The game will be broadcast on TBS, truTV and HBO Max.

Spanish-language game broadcasts will be available on UniMas for the ALCS, and Spanish-language radio broadcasts will be available on Univision’s TUDN Radio.

Who are the starting pitchers?

Guardians: TBD

Key Stats: Foster Griffin allowed one run on two hits and struck out seven batters over 2 2/3 innings of relief in Game 3 of the ALDS.

What’s the state of the Guardians’ pitching staff after their nail-biting series against the White Sox? When Vogt was asked who will start Game 1 of the ALCS, he laughed and said, “I’ll let you know when I wake up tomorrow.”

Gavin Williams is likely not an option until Game 3 of the ALCS on Thursday. He started Saturday. Fellow ace Parker Messick is likely not an option until Game 2 on Tuesday, after he started against Chicago on Thursday. That leaves Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo, opener Daniel Espino and Griffin as options for Game 1 in St. Petersburg.

Bibee throwing 15 pitches on Thursday against the White Sox would not seem to be prohibitive, but Cleveland also slotted him into its ALDS bullpen after his inconsistent regular season. Griffin and Cantillo each followed Espino on Wednesday in Chicago. Griffin or the Espino plus Cantillo pairing could make most sense given they have had the most rest.

Rays: Likely Drew Rasmussen, RHP

Key Stats: Rasmussen went seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts vs. Cleveland on July 26.

The Rays haven’t officially set their ALCS rotation, but they have their ace lined up to pitch Game 1, as he did in the ALDS. Rasmussen would have come back to pitch ALDS Game 4 on regular rest, but Tampa Bay’s sweep made that a moot point. The last time Rasmussen took the mound, he put together a near-historic outing by carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning, striking out 10 and walking only two batters against the Yankees at Tropicana Field. Now, he’ll take the mound with a little bit of extra rest and the ability to impact this best-of-seven series up to three times.

The format of this series will likely lead the Rays to use a four-man rotation, presumably including Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez alongside either Griffin Jax or Ian Seymour, with the other one coming out of the bullpen.

What might the starting lineups look like?

Guardians: The Guardians ranked first in the Majors this season by having the platoon advantage in 76.9 percent of their plate appearances offensively. But their starting lineup was much more consistent against the White Sox, and it figures to look awfully similar in Game 1 against the Rays after the Guardians came to life offensively in Games 3 and 4 of the ALDS.

Petey Halpin is one name to watch. He went 2-for-3 with two doubles in Game 5 of the ALDS, replacing Angel Martínez in the lineup after Martínez went 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts in Games 1-4.

1. Steven Kwan, LF
2. José Ramírez, 3B
3. Chase DeLauter, RF
4. Jo Adell, DH
5. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B
6. Travis Bazzana, 2B
7. Patrick Bailey, C
8. Petey Halpin, CF
9. Brayan Rocchio, SS

Rays: Without knowing everything about their opponent’s pitching plan, we’ll stick with the same lineup that Cash ran out there against the Yankees in Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS. If a left-hander will play a prominent part, Ryan Vilade could work his way into the outfield mix.

1. Yandy Díaz, DH
2. Jonathan Aranda, 1B
3. Junior Caminero, 3B
4. Liam Hicks, C
5. Chandler Simpson, LF
6. Victor Mesa Jr., RF
7. Jonny DeLuca, CF
8. Richie Palacios, 2B
9. Taylor Walls, SS

How will the bullpens line up after the starter?

Guardians: This depends fully on how the Guardians start Game 1. If Espino is the opener, Cantillo could be a natural piggyback as the bulk pitcher. That was the formula for Cantillo’s final three regular season appearances after command issues bumped him from starting games. That being said, the Guards had Griffin immediately follow Espino in Game 3 of the ALDS.

If Espino opens, expect a few pitchers to follow. Whether he does or a traditional starter gets the ball, the goal is to get the ball to setup men Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski, and ultimately, closer Cade Smith.

Rays: Well, it’s safe to say the Rays bullpen is quite well rested. Closer Bryan Baker got the save in all three games of the ALDS, but pitched every game with a day of rest thanks to the schedule. Cam Booser pitched twice and Kevin Kelly got a big out in Game 3, but otherwise, the Rays rode the five pitchers who finished the season in their starting rotation.

They could do something similar in the ALCS, working in one starter (perhaps the lefty Seymour) as a more traditional reliever and mixing in the rest on their between-starts bullpen days. But they can also lean on Baker, Tyler Wells (who didn’t pitch in the ALDS), Kelly, Booser and the rest of the group.

Any injuries of note?

Guardians: None.

Rays: Nothing new. The question for this series will be the status of left-hander Shane McClanahan, who finished the season on the injured list due to left forearm tightness and was not available for the ALDS roster. Otherwise, they’re in pretty good shape.

Who is hot and who is not?

Guardians: José Ramírez went 5-for-12 with a double, a triple, a home run and seven RBIs in Games 3-5 of the ALDS, after he went 0-for-6 in Games 1-2. Adell went 4-for-12 with five RBIs in Games 3-5 after going 1-for-7 with six strikeouts in Games 1-2.

On the pitching front, Williams had a 1.54 ERA with 24 strikeouts and five walks in 11 2/3 innings over three games (two starts) vs. Chicago. Smith had a 1.35 ERA with 11 strikeouts and one walk in 6 2/3 innings.

Rays: Pretty much everyone who touched the mound for the Rays in the ALDS performed well, which bodes well for them moving forward. Meanwhile, they found just enough offense to win all three games. Aranda was their best hitter in the series, going 4-for-12 with a homer and no strikeouts. Caminero hasn’t had a “moment” yet, but he more than held his own at the plate.

Mesa and Vilade had huge moments with a pair of homers in Game 3. The rest of the lineup has been relatively quiet, albeit in a three-game sample size, so it’s hardly time to worry about the likes of Díaz, Hicks, Simpson, etc.

Anything else fans might want to know?

• Tampa Bay and Cleveland have relatively little history in the postseason. The Guardians swept the Rays in a tightly contested AL Wild Card Series in 2022, making up for Tampa Bay's 4-0 win over Cleveland in the 2013 AL Wild Card Game.

• The Rays won the season series against the Guardians, 5-1, and outscored them, 20-8. Tampa Bay took two of three at Progressive Field at the end of April, then reeled off a three-game sweep at the Trop in late July.

• The Guardians became the first team since the Yankees in 2017 to erase a 2-0 deficit in the ALDS.

• Carl Crawford, the longtime Tampa Bay outfielder who was part of the club’s AL pennant-winning team in 2008 and has since been inducted into the Rays Hall of Fame, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 1.