Diaz, Rays Even ALCS against Guardians

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

October 17, 2026

Rays 7, Guardians 3 — ALCS Game Four

The Tampa Bay Rays tied the ALCS at two games apiece with a 7–3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians Saturday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Yandy Diaz pitched in nicely with a two-run blast in the ninth inning. These two teams will meet up for Game Five of the ALCS Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 5:08 pm Eastern at Progressive Field. Right-hander Drew Rasmussen (1–0, 1.29 ERA) will face lefty Parker Messick (0–2, 3.09 ERA) in that matchup.

Rays — Guardians Game Summary

The Guardians broke into the run column early in the bottom of the first against Nick Martinez. Steven Kwan reached on a leadoff single to left, and a wild pitch from Martinez moved him to second. After Jose Ramirez popped up to Richie Palacios at second, Kwan scored thanks to a sharp single to right by Chase DeLauter.

The Rays tied it up in the top of the third with reliever Foster Griffin pitching. Griffin struck out Palacios and Taylor Walls, both swinging, before giving up a double to right to Diaz. Up next was Jonathan Aranda, who plated Diaz with a single up the middle.

The Rays took a 2–1 lead in the top of the sixth off reliever Daniel Espino. Aranda and Chandler Simpson set the table with back-to-back walks. Aranda scored a moment later courtesy of a double to left by Junior Caminero.

Rays Pile On

The Rays scored four more in the top of the seventh. Reliver Slade Cecconi came in to pitch after Tim Herrin gave up a leadoff infield single to second to Palacios. Walls advanced Palacios to second with a single to right and both runners moved up 90 feet with a double steal. After Diaz was called out on strikes, Aranda scored Palacios and Walls with a single to right. On deck was Simpson, who plated Aranda with a sacrifice fly to right.

The Guardians got a run back in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Ian Seymour. With two outs, Travis Bazzana stepped in and hit a line-drive homer to right on a 1–0 pitch. Patrick Bailey followed with a single to left. On deck was Angel Martinez, pinch-hitting for Petey Halpin. Martinez nudged Bailey to second with a single to center. That brought up Brayan Rocchio, who brought Bailey home with a single to left.

The Rays scored their final two runs in the top of the ninth with reliever Matt Festa on the mound. Palacios led off with a single to right. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt back to Festa by Walls. Festa threw to second to try to get Palacios, but his throw wasn’t in time. On deck was Diaz, who put the game out of reach with a wall-scraper home run to right on an 0–2 pitch.

What Went Right for the Rays

The Rays adopted an aggressive approach in this game. As previously mentioned, the two-run home run by Diaz helped open it up a little. Palacios and Walls opened some eyes with their double steal in the seventh. Caminero untied the game with his run-scoring double in the sixth, and Aranda got the scoring started with his RBI single in the third.

What Went Wrong for the Rays

The Rays hit a small detour in the seventh when Bazzana hit his homer and Rocchio scored Bailey with his single. The Guardians also drew first blood in the first when Kwan crossed the plate on the single by DeLauter.

Pitching Notes

Martinez picked up his first win of the postseason. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run that was earned on two hits. He also walked two and struck out three.

Espino shouldered the loss after only recording one out in the sixth. He surrendered one earned run on one hit while walking two and striking out one.

Cash’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rays manager Kevin Cash discussed Martinez’ performance. “We did a really nice job,” he stated. “Look, we have all the confidence in the world in Nick. He’s going to go out and do his thing. I thought he really did a nice job. Seemed like he settled in after the first inning. The walk to Kwan was just very uncharacteristic for Nick. But then after that he did a lot of Nick things out there. Defense played really well behind him. And we talked about before the game trying to get the top three guys going a little bit. They certainly contributed in big ways today.”

In his postgame interview, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt reflected on what his team must do to shake off this loss. “This is the ALCS,” he said. “We obviously would have loved to have taken tonight. But we still have a three-game series ahead of us against a really good team. And I anticipate it going down to the wire. That’s the way these two teams are.”