Sports · Baseball · 6 hrs ago

Rays and Guardians meet in the American League Championship Series

The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, the American League’s top two seeds, will play a best-of-seven series for a place in the World Series.

The series begins tomorrow in Tampa, where the Rays have named ace Drew Rasmussen to start Game 1.

Cleveland has not announced its Game 1 starter after playing a five-game series against the White Sox.

Both teams rely on pitching, but Tampa’s staff is more rested after sweeping the Yankees in three games.

Cleveland’s pitchers had to work through a demanding series, though starter Gavin Williams delivered 12 strikeouts in Game 5.

Tampa was the stronger hitting team during the regular season, while Cleveland’s bullpen may have a slight edge.

How the teams perform at the plate could help decide the series, and Cleveland still needs to settle its starting-pitcher plans.

Sources

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