Freddy Peralta Evens the ALCS, and Griffin Jax Gets Game 3 in Cleveland Against a Likely Gavin Williams

The Tampa Bay Rays evened the American League Championship Series at 1-1 on Tuesday night, beating the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 at Tropicana Field behind six scoreless innings from Freddy Peralta. All three Tampa Bay runs came in the fourth inning and all three were unearned, set up by a ground ball that skipped through Jose Ramirez's legs at third base.

The series now moves to Cleveland after an off day Wednesday. The Rays have officially named Griffin Jax their Game 3 starter for Thursday at 6 p.m. ET at Progressive Field. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt has not announced his starter, but Gavin Williams lines up on regular rest and is widely expected to get the ball if he is physically ready.

How Game 2 was decided

Peralta was the difference. The deadline acquisition allowed four hits and two walks over six innings, struck out six and threw 99 pitches. Cleveland's lineup, which scored seven unanswered runs to steal Game 1, never got a rally going against him.

The fourth inning was a sequence of small things going Tampa Bay's way. Junior Caminero walked. Victor Mesa Jr. hit a bouncer to second that looked like an inning-ending double play, but a Rays challenge overturned the call at first. After Jonny DeLuca struck out, Chandler Simpson beat out a chopper in front of the plate, and Mesa took third when nobody covered the bag. Ben Williamson then grounded a ball toward Ramirez that hit the edge of the infield dirt, glanced off his glove and rolled into left field, scoring Mesa. Liam Hicks followed with a two-run single into right-center on the first pitch he saw.

Cleveland's only run came in the seventh, when Chase DeLauter doubled with two outs to score Patrick Bailey and cut the lead to 3-1. Kevin Kelly and Ian Seymour handled the seventh, Seymour went back out for the eighth and closer Bryan Baker finished the ninth.

Messick and the Cleveland bullpen

Messick deserved better. The left-hander, pitching near his hometown, was charged with three runs, none of them earned. Cleveland's bullpen behind him, including Shawn Armstrong and Slade Cecconi, kept the Rays off the board the rest of the way, which keeps the relief corps in reasonable shape for the trip home.

The bigger takeaway for Cleveland is that its pitching has now held a rested Tampa Bay lineup to six runs in two games on the road. The Guardians came into the series worried about fatigue after a five-game ALDS, and so far the staff has held up. The offense is the concern: outside of the late surge in Game 1, Cleveland has struggled to string together hits against Tampa Bay's starters.

Game 3: Jax vs. a likely Williams

Jax is a converted reliever who worked mostly as a starter this season. Thursday will be his first postseason start; his only October work so far was two relief innings on 32 pitches in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Yankees. He has been sharp lately, with a 0.90 ERA over his past five appearances, allowing two runs on 10 hits and four walks with 19 strikeouts across 20 innings. He also has a long history at Progressive Field from earlier in his career, with a 2.19 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 13 relief appearances there.

Williams has been Cleveland's best pitcher this month. In the ALDS against the White Sox he made two starts and an emergency relief appearance, posting a 1.54 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, and he dominated Chicago for 5 2/3 innings in Game 5. If he starts Thursday, he would also line up for a potential Game 7.

Betting angle

Two games in, the series has flipped the pre-series script. The rested Rays were supposed to have the pitching edge against a worn-down Cleveland staff, and instead Cleveland's bullpen carried Game 1 and its starter pitched well enough to win Game 2. The difference in Game 2 was one bad hop and Peralta's command.

That shapes how to read Game 3. With Williams on the mound at home, Cleveland should be the favorite, and the question is whether the market leans too far on his ALDS strikeout numbers. Jax is a legitimate starter on a good run, not a bullpen opener, and his history in this ballpark is better than his name recognition. The total is where the stronger read sits: both lineups have gone quiet for long stretches against good starting pitching, and Cleveland's offense in this series has come almost entirely in late innings against relievers. A low-scoring first five innings is the more natural expectation than a slugfest.

For props, Williams's strikeout line deserves respect given his October form, but Tampa Bay's lineup makes contact and works counts, so a high posted number is not an automatic over. On the Rays side, Hicks has driven in key runs batting low in the order against left-handed pitching, though against a right-hander like Williams he is projected to hit cleanup. Verdexed's game-by-game probabilities live at /mlb/predictions, and the daily board will be at /blog/mlb-picks-2026-10-15 once Thursday's starters are confirmed.

Rays and Guardians health check

Neither club is dealing with a new lineup injury heading into Game 3. Caminero and DeLuca both said they were fine after a collision in Game 1, and Cleveland reported no injuries. The Rays remain without Shane McClanahan, who was shut down for the rest of the postseason with left forearm tightness, which is part of why Jax is starting rather than a more traditional option.

Cleveland's likely lineup keeps Steven Kwan leading off, Ramirez second and DeLauter third, with Bailey catching regardless of who starts. Ramirez's error was costly, but he remains the center of the lineup that rallied from 2-0 down in Game 1.

What's next

Game 3 is Thursday, October 15, at 6 p.m. ET at Progressive Field, followed by Games 4 and 5 in Cleveland. Watch for Vogt's official announcement on Williams; any change would be a meaningful signal about his health after a heavy ALDS workload. In the National League, the Brewers lead the Dodgers 2-0 with Game 3 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, Robert Gasser against Blake Snell, so both series will look different by the time Jax throws his first pitch.

The ALCS is now a best-of-five with Cleveland holding three home games. If Williams pitches to his ALDS form, the Guardians are in position to retake control; if Jax extends his recent run, the rested Rays will have flipped home field back in their favor.