While the ALCS has been dominated by big market teams for years now, the 2026 series that began on Monday features two of Major League Baseball's smallest market franchises, but that doesn't mean that they're not among the best teams.
During the regular season, it was the Tampa Bay Rays that finished the year with 98 victories, and after a dominant performance against the Yankees, they came into this one full of confidence against a Cleveland Guardians team that came back from 2-0 down in the ALDS. This was expected to be a series with dominant pitching and scrappy lineups, and early on, that's what we've gotten, with the Rays opening the scoring early in Game 1.
That scoring started through Junior Caminero, who followed a sacrifice bunt with an RBI single, and with a red-hot Tampa Bay crowd, they got to see their team on the board as early as possible.
That wasn't all for the Rays in the first inning however, as Jonny Deluca followed Caminero's single with one of his own, and quickly in front of one of the best pitchers in the American League, the Rays had built themselves a fantastic 2-0 lead.
Then, things evened out, and with the pitching matchup of Drew Rasmussen vs. Foster Griffin, these teams were stuck in a stalement, as we went through scoreless innings in the second, third, fourth and fifth, before finally the Guardians got on the board.
When the Guardians have needed it most this post-season, especially in the ALDS against the White Sox, it was the power bats that stood up, but this time, it wasn't Jose Ramirez, who had some major blasts that led them to the 2-0 comeback against Chicago. After just five hits through their first five innings, it was Chase Delauter that got things started in the sixth, leading off the inning with a solo home run, cutting the Rays lead in half and giving Cleveland plenty of belief.
Rasmussen would get through the inning, but there was more trouble ahead, as Patrick Bailey, who had a big swing of his own late in the ALDS against the White Sox, stepped up again, and this time, he tied the game with a solo shot of his own against Rasmussen on the first pitch of the seventh inning.
That ended Rasmussen's night at 6.0 innings, 8 hits and two runs allowed, and while Griffin managed just 4.0 innings of work, it would mean that the Guardians entered the seventh inning with a fantastic shot at stealing game one of the ALCS on the road.
From 2-0 down, the Guardians fought back to tie the game with the long ball, and from there, they played their typical small ball, as the inning began with a single and a double, giving the Guardians the prime opportunity to take the lead. They didn't waste it, and this time it was through former Rays star Nathaniel Lowe, as he took one back up the middle, driving in both runners and giving the Guardians their first lead of the ALCS, 4-2.
After scoring in three straight innings, the Guardians had all the momentum, and with an elite level bullpen, this gave them a fantastic chance of stealing Game 1 of a crucial series on the road.
However, the Rays have far too much talent and far too much experience to give up to a two-run lead, and to answer, it was Cedric Mullins that stepped up in the bottom of the seventh inning, blasting the third total solo shot of the game to make it 4-3 and give the Rays hope once more.
This all led to a 9th inning, and while a series isn't decided in the first game, if the Guardians were to pull off the upset heading into the last inning at a 4-3 score, it would go a long way to clinching their first World Series berth since the 2016 campaign.
All the momentum the Rays built with the solo shot from Mullins was taken from them however, as the Guardians found some crucial insurance runs in the 9th inning, firstly from the bat of Jose Ramirez, who fought off a tough two-strike pitch to send it to left field, giving the Guardians the 5-3 lead in the process.
Despite this hit coming with two outs, the Guardians didn't stop there, as they put together their best inning of the night, as Jo Adell came up with his biggest hit as a member of the Guardians, taking a two-strike pitch to left field as the Guardians doubled their lead, now up 7-3.
While that lead certainly made things easier for Cleveland, nothing is easy in the post-season, with closer Cade Smith set to come out and attempt to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in what could be a very winnable series for them.
In this case however, Smith did make it look easy, as he stepped up against a tough part of the Rays lineup, getting a groundout, groundout and pop out in just six pitches, with any hopes of the comeback from Tampa Bay officially being extinguished.
As a result, the Guardians are now up 1-0 in the ALCS, and while there's still a long way to go, given that they survived a Drew Rasmussen gem on the road to put up seven runs, this is certainly a good sign as they steal Game 1 away from home.