The Guardians are simply irrepressible. Get them two games down, like they were in the AL Division Series against the White Sox, and they’ll just win the next three. Score two runs on them in the first inning, as the Rays did in Monday’s Game 1 of the AL Championship Series? They’ll come storming back when you least expect it.
The Guardians have been to many postseasons in the last decade. And as we’ve seen, they never, ever quit. Now, they’re in control of this series, after Monday’s comeback victory at Tropicana Field. But these are the Rays, which is to say, this series has a long way to go.
Here are three key questions leading into Tuesday’s ALCS Game 2.
ALCS Game 2: Guardians at Rays (CLE ahead 1-0)
8 p.m. ET, TBS/HBO Max
SP: Parker Messick (CLE) vs. Freddy Peralta (TB)
Can the Rays collect themselves?
The Guardians already have faced some serious adversity in this postseason. The Rays? Not so much. They swept the Yankees in the ALDS and, until Nathaniel Lowe’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning on Monday (scoring Chase DeLauter and José Ramírez, who is floating on air right now), they had not trailed in a game this entire postseason. Now they trail in this series.
For all the excitement these young Rays have provided this October, they don’t, in fact, have a lot of postseason experience. There are a few veterans (Peralta, Steven Matz, Nick Martinez, Cedric Mullins) who have made the postseason with other teams, but just about everybody else here has either never been in the playoffs before this year or haven’t been since the Rays were swept out of the Wild Card Series in two games in 2023. The Guardians -- as we have clearly already seen, most vividly from Ramírez -- have been through this a ton … and look the part.
The Rays have lost their undefeated postseason streak and their home-field advantage. (Fortunately, it seems they didn’t lose star third baseman Junior Caminero, despite a scary collision with left fielder Jonny DeLuca late in the game.) Over the final four innings Monday, the Guardians cast doubt on the idea that the heavily favored Rays would breeze into the World Series. How do the Rays come back from that? Game 2 is when we find out if they can.
Will Parker Messick give the Guardians innings?
The Guardians’ bullpen was fantastic on Monday night, throwing five innings, giving up just one run on two hits, while striking out five. It was pretty much what was required after a rough first inning from starter Foster Griffin that had Tropicana Field roaring, and it’s what gave the Guardians the opportunity to come all the way back like they did. But that’s still five pitchers used for a full inning each, and while none threw more than 17 pitches, this is also a crew that had to work hard during that five-game ALDS, with just one off-day in between that series and this one. Closer Cade Smith, for example, has now pitched in all six Guardians playoff games, over a span of 10 days.
All of that puts a lot on the shoulders of Messick, a rookie who hasn’t thrown more than five innings since Sept. 16 and only lasted a combined 6 2/3 innings in his two starts in the ALDS. Messick pitched at essentially an ace level for most of the season, and while they don’t need a complete game from him on Tuesday, they would love to be in a position that they don’t have to fight from behind again. If Messick gives them that opportunity, they can take a hammer lock on this series.
Is Freddy Peralta fully fixed?
An easy way to upset a Mets fan is to note how different a pitcher Peralta was after going from New York to Tampa Bay at the Trade Deadline. Acquired over the offseason from the Brewers, Peralta posted a 4.99 ERA over his 22 starts for the Mets, but his fortunes turned around after the Rays got their hands on him.
Peralta had a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts after the trade, culminating in a magical September in which he went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA and won the AL Pitcher of the Month. He gave up just one run in 4 2/3 innings in his ALDS win over the Yankees, but the Rays may need a bit more than that in Game 2, considering the way the Guardians got to the Rays’ bullpen in Game 1.
The Mets brought in Peralta to be their ace, and it didn’t work out. But the Rays desperately need him to be theirs, right now.