▲ Tampa Bay takes a 3-2 lead in the ALCS.
The Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time in six years.
Tampa Bay secured a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians thanks to a stellar pitching performance by starter Drew Rasmussen in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS, best-of-seven) at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 19 (Korean time).
With a 3-2 lead in the series, Tampa Bay needs just one more win in the remaining Games 6 and 7 to eliminate Cleveland and advance to the World Series.
Founded in 1998 as the youngest franchise in Major League Baseball, Tampa Bay reached the World Series twice in 2008 and 2020, but finished as runners-up on both occasions.
Games 6 and 7 will be moved to Tampa Bay's home stadium, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and will be held on October 20-21.
Earlier in the game, Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with two outs and the bases loaded when Jonny DeLuca drew a bases-loaded walk.
After adding a run in the second on an RBI single by Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay extended its lead to 3-0 in the top of the third with an RBI single up the middle by Liam Hicks.
Limited to just five hits, Cleveland managed to claw back only one run in the bottom of the sixth.
▲ Tampa Bay ace Drew Rasmussen
Tampa Bay ace Rasmussen earned the win after allowing just one run on four hits while striking out six batters through seven innings.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits over two innings.
Messick recorded 12 wins and 9 losses with a 2.56 ERA in the regular season, but has struggled in the postseason with 3 losses and no wins, posting a 3.95 ERA.
In the history of Major League Baseball's best-of-seven postseason series, teams that won Game 5 after a 2-2 tie went on to win the series 67 percent of the time (46 out of 69 series).
In particular, when the away team won Game 5, the series victory probability rose even higher to 75 percent (21 out of 28 series).
Meanwhile, Choo Shin-soo threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 5, drawing applause from fans.
Choo, who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball, starred as an everyday outfielder for Cleveland from the 2006 to 2012 seasons.
During his seven seasons with Cleveland, Choo achieved the "20-20 club" (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) twice, batting .292 with 83 home runs, 372 RBIs, and 85 stolen bases before becoming a free agent and transferring to the Texas Rangers.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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