Yandy declares the ALCS over: 'We're going to win tomorrow'

CLEVELAND -- Nobody’s going to mistake muscular Rays leadoff man Yandy Díaz for Babe Ruth, but he called his shot Sunday night at Progressive Field.

Díaz picked up three hits to support another dominant start by Drew Rasmussen in the Rays’ 3-1 win over the Guardians in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, moving Tampa Bay within one victory of the World Series as the ALCS moves to Tropicana Field for Game 6 on Monday night.

Game 7 would be Tuesday night, if necessary. And Díaz doesn’t think it will be.

“It's a great opportunity. All of us are thinking of it,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “But it all ends tomorrow. We're going to win tomorrow.”

Díaz was understandably feeling confident as he stepped inside the interview room to discuss the Rays’ second straight win. Tampa Bay was down in the series, 2-1, before reeling off consecutive wins behind excellent pitching and a rejuvenated lineup.

The AL’s No. 1-seeded team is returning to the Trop -- where it had the best home record in the Majors this season -- with two chances to reach the World Series for the third time in franchise history. And the Rays will have red-hot right-hander Freddy Peralta on the mound in Game 6, while the Guardians are scrambling to come up with a plan for another bullpen day.

So sure, why wouldn’t Díaz feel good about where the Rays stand?

Then again, the Guardians have been in this position before, and they’ve come back. So why wouldn’t they feel confident, too?

“We don't have another choice. We don't like being in this position, but, like we said the last series, our backs were against the wall,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “They've been against the wall for a long time. This is when this team thrives.

“We know we've got our work cut out for us. It's a really good team, and a really good team when they play at home, especially. So we know this is going to be tough, but if there's a group I'm betting on to get this done, it's our guys.”

Díaz is the only player on the Rays’ active roster who was on the club’s 28-man roster for the 2020 World Series. (Left-hander Shane McClanahan, who pitched in the 2020 Fall Classic, is with the team but not active.) The 35-year-old DH has played in 33 postseason games for Tampa Bay, more than any player in franchise history, and he has been a huge presence at the plate throughout his tenure.

Díaz’s 25 career postseason hits for the Rays rank third in franchise history, behind only Randy Arozarena (38) and B.J. Upton (27). He has hit safely in seven of his eight games in these playoffs, with five hits over the past two nights after a shaky start to the ALCS.

“I've said it for many seasons: He goes, we go,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We talk about leaders on the team and how they go about their business, and what Yandy does at the top of our lineup, it ignites everybody.”

Long regarded as one of the most underrated hitters in the game, Díaz is coming off another All-Star season in which he slashed .293/.359/.446 with 22 homers and 85 RBIs over a career-high 154 games. He is, in many ways, the archetype for this Tampa Bay lineup: patient, disciplined, prone to putting the ball in play and relentlessly committed to his approach.

“One of the best hitters in the big leagues. He uses the other side of the field with the fastball and then he pulls offspeed,” Vogt said. “Doesn't get big. Hits the ball hard, has a good eye. He's [been] one of the best all-around hitters in our league for a long time.”

Díaz, a former Cleveland prospect, announced his arrival in the ALCS with a two-run homer in the ninth inning of Game 4 that essentially iced the Rays’ win. Then he kept his momentum rolling in Game 5.

Díaz led off Sunday’s contest with a double and eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk by Jonny DeLuca. Then he hit one of his patented opposite-field singles in the second, putting Ben Williamson in position to score on a similar opposite-field knock by Jonathan Aranda.

That gave Rasmussen some early run support and sparked an offense that found enough timely hits to beat the Guardians at their own game and pull within one win of -- and, in Díaz’s mind, one day from -- an opportunity to celebrate another trip to the World Series.

“I'm just trying to get on base as much as I can. I'm not necessarily thinking of the hits or counting the hits,” Díaz said. “I'm just trying to do whatever I can to get on base, especially as the leadoff guy. So things have been working, but that's my mindset right now.”