The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays at home on Wednesday night by a final score of 2-1 in 10 innings, marking the second straight extra innings game the Guardians played against the Rays in this series. The win for the Guardians splits the series at 1-1 and gives Cleveland a lead in the season series 3-2 with one game remaining.
For Cleveland (87-68), rookie third baseman Gabriel Arias got his first major league homerun in the 3rd inning to tie the game at 1-1. The game stayed deadlocked at 1-1 into extra innings, when shortstop Amed Rosario was brought in to pinch hit in the 10th inning and then hit a walk-off RBI single to give Cleveland a 2-1 win. Starting pitcher Triston McKenzie went 6.0 complete innings, struck out six batters and allowed three hits for one earned run. Relief pitcher James Karinchak got his second win of the season for going 1.0 inning in the 10th while striking out all three batters faced to set up a walk-off situation on offense.
For Tampa Bay (85-70), catcher Christian Bethancourt hit an RBI single to get the Rays on the board with a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, who made his season debut in the game, went 3.0 innings, struck out three batters and allowed two hits for one earned run. Relief pitcher Javy Guerra suffered his first loss of the season for going 0.1 inning, while walking two batters and allowing the game-winning hit by the Guardians.
The Guardians will wrap up this home series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, September 29th, with first pitch set for 6:10 p.m.