Nathaniel Lowe drove in two runs in the eighth inning in St. Petersburg on Monday night. The tiebreaking hit led Cleveland over Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit solo home runs for the visiting club. Drew Rasmussen allowed both home runs before leaving the mound.
Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca hit run-scoring singles in the first inning off Foster Griffin. Griffin allowed two runs and five hits across four innings.
DeLauter hit an opposite-field home run to left-center field in the sixth inning. Bailey tied the game in the seventh inning with a 436-foot drive to center field.
Five relievers threw five innings of one-run, two-hit baseball for Cleveland. Cade Smith pitched a perfect ninth inning to secure the victory.
Late Innings Decide Game 1
José Ramírez singled to start the eighth inning against Tyler Wells. DeLauter followed with a double to right field. Wells retired Jo Adell on a groundout before Ian Seymour entered the game. Lowe lined an 0-2 pitch into center field to drive in both runners.
Cedric Mullins hit a solo home run off Erik Sabrowski in the home half. Tampa Bay trailed 4-3 after the drive.
Ramírez singled in another run off Cole Sulser in the ninth inning. He ran toward third base on an 0-2 pitch with two outs. Caminero moved toward the bag to cover third base. Adell hit a grounder through the vacated spot for a two-run double.
The visiting team finished the game with 14 hits. Ramírez and DeLauter collected three hits each.
Defensive Plays and Missed Chances
A crowd of 35,361 fans attended the game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The contest marked the third franchise appearance in the league championship series.
Rasmussen struck out seven batters over six-plus innings and gave up eight hits. Nick Fortes threw out Ramírez attempting to steal second base in the opening frame.
Caminero backhanded a hard bounce from Adell in the third inning to make the out. Ben Williamson made a diving stop on a grounder from DeLauter to prevent a jam. Williamson was not on the roster for the division series.
Tampa Bay shortstop Taylor Walls went hitless in three at-bats. He left six runners on base during the game. Walls struck out with the bases loaded in the first inning. He grounded out to end the sixth inning with two runners on base.
Starting pitcher Messick went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA during the regular season. Messick struck out 11 batters over two appearances in the previous playoff series.
Pitcher Peralta posted a 5-2 record with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts after a midseason trade. Peralta was 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA for the Mets earlier this year.
A championship series determines which team advances to the final round of the baseball postseason. Teams compete in a best-of-seven format to decide the league winner. Play continues with games held across both home venues.
Cleveland previously won three straight games against Chicago to advance from the division round. Tampa Bay entered Monday after sweeping New York in three consecutive games.
