The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday after a late rally from their hitters.
Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey smashed a solo home run in the seventh inning to tie the game. The Guardians scored five runs in the next two innings to clinch the series opener.
Cleveland’s starting pitcher Gavin Williams’ girlfriend Taylor Jones gave a shout-out to the Guardians catcher’s wife in her Instagram story. She shared a snippet of Bailey’s home run in Tampa, writing:
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“Yes ma’am.”
Williams, who leads the AL in strikeouts, helped the Guardians to the championship series after shutting down the Chicago White Sox over 5.2 innings in the ALDS-deciding Game 5. His performance helped the Guardians clinch a 2-0 win and complete a dramatic comeback in the series.
Bailey, who was traded to the Guardians by the San Francisco Giants in May, registered a career-high nine home runs in 82 games during the regular season. Monday’s solo shot was his second home run of the postseason for Cleveland.
Guardians manager “proud” of team’s offensive rally in comeback win
The Guardians trailed the Rays 2-0 heading into the sixth inning. However, the AL East winner’s control over the game disappeared after the sixth inning as the Guardians scripted a dramatic comeback.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt praised the spirit of his players, especially the offense, for their comeback win.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Vogt said. “We got punched early. Our pitching staff, credit to them for stopping it and keeping us in the game as long as they did.
“The offense came alive. I thought we had great at-bats the whole game. Just couldn’t get that one hit with runners in scoring position. Hitting a couple balls out of the yard made it a new game.”
The Guardians have history on their side as the teams to take a 1-0 lead have won the best-of-seven postseason series 127 of 197 times.
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash