Rays Beat Guardians in Game 4 to Even ALCS, Box Score Stats, Highlights, Updated MLB Playoff Bracket

The Tampa Bay Rays evened the American League Championship Series at two games apiece with a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.

A two-RBI play from Jonathan Aranda in the seventh following a fielding error paired with a two-run homer from Yandy Díaz in the top of the ninth helped seal the win for the Rays.

The victory moves the Rays one step closer to their first World Series appearance since 2020, when they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ahead of Game 4, Tampa Bay entered as a 1.5-point favorite over Cleveland, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, and delivered on expectations with a statement road win.

The Guardians and Rays split the first two games at Tropicana Field in Florida, with Cleveland taking Game 1, 7-3, before Tampa Bay responded with a 3-1 win in Game 2.

After the series shifted to Progressive Field, Cleveland capitalized on home-field advantage to win Game 3 and take a 2-1 series lead. Tampa Bay answered in Game 4, earning a road win to even the series and set up what is sure to be an exciting ALCS.

Box Score

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
Rays	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	0	2
Guardians	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

Hitting
Notable Players	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG
Jonathan Aranda, TB	4	2	3	2	0	1	0	.269	.345	.385
Yandy Diaz, TB	5	2	2	2	1	0	3	.267	.290	.467
Junior Caminero, TB	5	0	1	1	0	0	2	.231	.310	.346
Chandler Simpson, TB	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	.167	.200	.278
Chase DeLauter, CLE	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	.294	.385	.441
Travis Bazzana, CLE	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	.200	.294	.367
Brayan Rocchio, CLE	3	0	1	1	0	0	1	.143	.226	.143
Jose Ramirez, CLE	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.333	.436	.606
Pitching
Notable Players	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	PC-S	ERA
Nick Martinez, TB	5.1	2	1	1	2	3	0	79-53	3.00
Shawn Armstrong, CLE	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	13-9	0.00
Foster Griffin, CLE	3.2	4	1	1	0	5	0	44-31	3.48

Postseason Bracket

American League Wild Card

• No. 6 Chicago White Sox def. No. 3 Houston Astros, 2-0
• No. 4 New York Yankees def. No. 5 Boston Red Sox, 2-0

National League Wild Card

• No. 3 Atlanta Braves def. No. 6 Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1
• No. 4 San Diego Padres def. No. 5 Chicago Cubs, 2-0

American League Division Series

• No. 2 Cleveland Guardians def. No. 6 Chicago White Sox, 3-2
• No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays def. No. 4 New York Yankees, 3-0

National League Division Series

• No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers def. No. 3 Atlanta Braves, 3-1
• No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers def. No. 4 San Diego Padres, 3-1

American League Championship Series

• No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays & No. 2 Cleveland Guardians tied, 2-2

American League Championship Series

• No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers def. No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0

World Series

• No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers vs the winner of No. 2 Cleveland Guardians/No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays

The Guardians felt the home crowd on Sunday, striking first in the bottom of the first on a Chase DeLauter single to right field that brought home Steven Kwan from second base for Cleveland to take a 1-0 lead. 

Tampa Bay's Aranda answered in the third with an RBI single, bringing home Díaz, who had doubled, to even the score at 1-1.

The Rays tacked on another run in the top of the sixth, with Junior Caminero doubling to bring home Jonathan Aranda and give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

A huge seventh inning proved to be the difference for Tampa Bay, as the Rays scored three runs to take a commanding 5-1 lead on the road.

After two players stole bases to move into scoring position, Aranda hit a single that turned into a two-RBI play following a fielding error by Cleveland's DeLauter, allowing Aranda to advance to third base.

Chandler Simpson followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Aranda home as the Rays began to pull away.

Guardians' Travis Bazzana launched a solo home run in an attempt to keep Cleveland within striking distance, scoring the team's first run since the opening inning. 

Cleveland kept the momentum going, with Brayan Rocchio delivering an RBI to cut Tampa Bay's lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh.

Díaz hit a two-run homer to bring home Richie Palacios in the top of the ninth, adding an insurance run as Tampa Bay took a 7-3 lead that held through the final out.

Upcoming Games	Date	Location	Time (ET)	Tv/Stream
Game 5	Sun., Oct. 18	Progressive Field - Cleveland, Ohio	5:00 p.m	TBS/HBO MAX/TruTV
Game 6	Mon., Oct. 19	Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, Florida	5:00 p.m	TBS/HBO MAX/TruTV
Game 7*	Tue., Oct. 20	Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, Florida	8:00 p.m	TBS/HBO MAX/TruTV

The series will remain in Cleveland for Game 5, scheduled for Sunday, with first pitch set for 5 p.m. ET.