Guardians Rally Past the Rays in ALCS Game 1, and Parker Messick Faces Freddy Peralta With Cleveland Up 1-0

The Cleveland Guardians stole Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 at Tropicana Field after trailing 2-0 through five innings. Cleveland scored seven unanswered runs over the final four innings, with home runs from Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey, a two-run single in the eighth and a two-run Jo Adell double in the ninth. The Guardians now hold home-field advantage in the series.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Tampa. Cleveland will start left-hander Parker Messick, a Tampa Bay area native, against Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta.

How Cleveland won Game 1

Cleveland entered the series worn down after a five-game Division Series in Chicago, which is why Foster Griffin got the Game 1 start rather than a rested frontline arm. The Rays jumped him for two runs on four hits in the first inning, but Griffin settled in and finished four innings having allowed two runs on five hits on 63 pitches.

The bullpen took it from there and allowed only one run over the final five innings. The offense, quiet for five innings against the rested Rays, broke through late. DeLauter homered in the sixth, Bailey tied the game with a homer in the seventh, Cleveland took the lead with a two-run single in the eighth, and Adell's two-run double in the ninth closed it out.

Game 1 scoring, inning by inning

The late surge in a table:

Cleveland's comeback also capped a remarkable run. The Guardians forced and won an ALDS Game 5 on the road in Chicago just to get here, and they have now won an elimination-style road game and a series opener on the road within a few days.

Game 2: Messick vs. Peralta

Messick has been one of Cleveland's most effective arms this postseason, with 11 strikeouts across two appearances, including a start and a relief outing against Chicago. A homecoming start in his first ALCS is a big stage, but his stuff has played in October.

Peralta joined Tampa Bay at the trade deadline and went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts for the Rays. He is a strikeout pitcher who works up in the zone, and his outing will set the tone for a Rays team that now faces the prospect of heading to Cleveland down 2-0.

The pitching matchup is the reason the Rays should be favored again. Peralta is the more established starter, Tampa Bay is at home and Cleveland's bullpen threw five innings on Monday. That last point matters most: if Messick does not pitch deep, the Guardians will need some of the same relievers again.

Betting angle

The Rays were favored in Game 1 and lost. Two things argue they will be again on Tuesday: home field and Peralta's track record. Two things argue for caution laying the price: Cleveland's lineup came alive late, and the Guardians' bullpen has repeatedly closed out games this October.

For prop bettors, Peralta's strikeout total is the cleanest angle given his profile against a Cleveland lineup that just proved it can grind out late at-bats. Messick's strikeout line is worth watching as well after his 11 strikeouts in two postseason appearances. The full-game total depends heavily on how much of Cleveland's bullpen is available; the first-five-innings market isolates the starting matchup and removes some of that uncertainty. Verdexed's model view on Game 2 is on the day's picks page at /blog/mlb-picks-2026-10-13, with game probabilities at MLB predictions.

Players to watch

Chase DeLauter: His sixth-inning homer started the comeback, and he has become a key bat in Cleveland's lineup. He will be one of the more interesting outfield names in 2027 fantasy drafts.

Patrick Bailey: Better known for his defense behind the plate, Bailey has delivered big hits throughout this postseason, including the game-tying homer on Monday.

Jo Adell: His ninth-inning double put the game away, and his power remains the swing factor at the bottom of Cleveland's order.

Freddy Peralta: The Rays need him to work deep after their bullpen had to cover innings late in Game 1.

The bullpen math

The series may come down to relief usage more than starting pitching. Cleveland's bullpen covered five innings in Game 1 after the starter went four, and it carried a heavy load in the Division Series as well. Tampa Bay's relievers, by contrast, entered the ALCS rested after the Rays swept the Yankees in the Division Series.

That is why Messick's length matters so much on Tuesday. Five or six innings from him would let Cleveland's manager use only his top two or three relievers, keeping the rest of the group fresh for the games in Cleveland. A short start would force the Guardians to dip deeper into the bullpen in back-to-back games, which is exactly the scenario the rested Rays were built to exploit.

What's next

A Rays win on Tuesday evens the series at 1-1 and sends it to Cleveland with Tampa Bay's rotation still lined up. A Guardians win puts Tampa Bay in a 2-0 hole heading into three games at Progressive Field. Watch the length of Messick's start: if he gets through five innings, Cleveland's bullpen advantage becomes a series-level advantage.