The Tampa Bay Rays are returning to the World Series for the third time in franchise history, and they'll hope to finally win it all this time.
The Rays knocked out the Cleveland Guardians with a 7-3 victory in Monday's Game 6 of the ALCS to advance to the Fall Classic against the Milwaukee Brewers. Tampa Bay will be playing for its first championship in 29 years, while Milwaukee has gone 58 seasons without a title.
Freddy Peralta allowed one run on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings to record the victory at Tropicana Field. The right-hander picked up ALCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in the series. He was acquired from the New York Mets prior to the trade deadline.
"His velocity was so high out of the gate, you were wondering how much he was going to be able to maintain it," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "But couldn't be more impressed with the way he continued to take deep breaths and just make pitch after pitch for us."
Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz provided the big hits with a pair of two-run homers. Díaz went deep in the eighth after guaranteeing a Game 6 win following Game 5.
"I'm really glad he backed it up, that's for sure," Cash said.
Caminero's blast came in the seventh. The AL MVP contender took almost 39 seconds to round the bases thanks to an epic trot.
"Tampa, This is for you!" Caminero yelled to the fans postgame.
Kevin Kelly was also an unsung hero. The reliever stuck out Brayan Rocchio with the bases loaded in the eighth after the Guardians cut the Rays' lead to two runs.
The World Series begins Friday at Milwaukee's American Family Field. The Rays are the AL's top seed, while the Brewers finished with the best record in baseball to earn home-field advantage.
"They're highly athletic but so are we," Cash said of the Brewers. "I'm excited to see two great teams that play the game a little differently than maybe it's been played the last decade or so."
Milwaukee swept the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.
