ST. PETERSBURG -- Yandy Díaz led off with a double, sliding into second base and emphatically clapping his hands together. Jonathan Aranda dropped down his first career sacrifice bunt, a move that brought visible excitement out of him and many of his Tampa Bay teammates. And Junior Caminero, the superstar leader, singled in the night’s first run.
The Rays couldn’t have scripted a better first inning to Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, a contest that felt like they might run away with early on.
The rally towels were waving. The cowbells were ringing. Tropicana Field was jubilant after Tampa Bay quickly pounced on Cleveland with a two-run opening frame.
But the night took a turn. The bats went quiet, the Guardians clawed back and the Rays were handed a 7-3 loss, marking their first defeat (and first series deficit) of the postseason.
Everything was going so well at the start. What happened?
“After that first inning, you get confident,” said outfielder Jonny DeLuca, who also hit an RBI single in the first. “We just need to get more hits and get more runs. But yeah, kudos to them.”
This felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. Cleveland left-hander Foster Griffin struggled at times after being acquired from Washington ahead of the Trade Deadline -- posting a 5.19 ERA over nine starts -- and the Guardians now have left-hander Parker Messick starting Game 2, with righty Gavin Williams likely on deck for Game 3.
Messick and Williams are tough matchups. They won’t make it easy for the Rays to respond.
After the first inning of Game 1, Tampa Bay didn’t score again until Cedric Mullins’ leadoff home run in the bottom of the eighth -- which was also their only additional run of the night. Griffin settled in to blank the Rays in the second, third and fourth, then five Cleveland relievers combined for five frames of one-run relief.
“We were able to get the lead to start the game, but after the fact, in those innings that came after, we weren’t able to do much,” Caminero said via interpreter Kevin Vera. “And they did their part.”
Manager Kevin Cash pointed back at the missed opportunity to extend the first-inning rally.
DeLuca’s RBI knock made it 2-0 with two outs, then Ben Williamson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But Griffin locked in to escape the jam in a critical spot.
Taylor Walls stepped to the plate and took a high sweeper for a strike. He swung and missed at Griffin’s next offering, another sweeper in a similar spot high in the zone. And then, Griffin put away Walls by getting him to whiff on an 0-2 sweeper below the zone.
“We've been so good at capitalizing when we've got traffic on the bases and creating momentum,” Cash said. “But Griffin made some big pitches.”
There weren’t many rallies from there. The Guardians retired 24 of the Rays’ final 29 hitters, and Mullins’ homer was the only time a Tampa Bay runner got past second base after the opening frame.
“I would like to think that we can put a little bit more offense together, scratch and claw, get a couple more runs or knock a ball out of the ballpark,” Cash said. “They get to their bullpen, their high-leverage arms, and they become very challenging to piece together big innings with.”
Messick and Williams can also be described as “very challenging.” Each will present a big test.
Messick had a 2.56 ERA over 32 starts during his All-Star rookie campaign, before allowing four runs in 6 2/3 innings during a pair of AL Division Series outings vs. the White Sox.
Williams recorded a 3.76 ERA in 32 starts during the regular season, then was an ALDS hero. He racked up 11 strikeouts over five innings of two-run ball in a Game 2 loss, worked a scoreless inning to close out a Game 4 victory and then notched 12 more K’s in a 5 2/3-inning scoreless start in a winner-take-all Game 5.
But if there’s any offense up to the task, it’s likely that of the Rays, with their balanced attack capable of striking in so many different fashions. There’s no panic, either. They’re confident in their ability to bounce back and play the way they have for much of 2026.
Caminero said it best as he bluntly assessed the Game 1 loss and looked ahead to what’s next.
“They scored, and we didn’t do that,” Caminero said. “But we’ll be fine.”