World Series set: Tampa Bay Rays win ALCS, will face Milwaukee Brewers

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two years ago, Hurricane Milton blew the roof off Tropicana Field on Florida’s Gulf coast. On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Rays blew past the Cleveland Guardians at their refurbished stadium and punched a ticket to the franchise’s third World Series.

MVP Freddy Peralta pitched 5 1/3 innings to earn his second win of the American League Championship Series, and Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz each hit two-run homers as the Rays defeated the Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 before a raucous home crowd of 40,230.

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The Rays won the best-of-seven series 4-2, winning three straight games against Cleveland after falling behind 2-1 in the matchup of the AL’s top two seeds. Tampa Bay will face the Milwaukee Brewers, the National League champions who had the best record in MLB during 2026.

Game 1 is Friday in Milwaukee.

This will be the first matchup since 1980 where both teams are seeking their first World Series title, ESPN reported. The Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals for their first title 46 years ago.

Tampa Bay reached the ALCS by sweeping their AL East division rivals, the New York Yankees, in the American League Divisional Series.

The Rays’ third American League pennant came 19 years to the day after they won their first flag, when they defeated another AL East rival, the Boston Red Sox, in a seven-game series.

Tampa Bay lost that 2008 World Series in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies and lost the Fall Classic during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Brewers won 103 games during 2026. They advanced to the World Series by defeating the San Diego Padres in five games in the National League Division Series, and then swept the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

The Brewers had not reached the World Series since 1982, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, The Athletic reported.

The Rays and Brewers played one series against each other this season, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Tampa Bay went 1-2 against the Brewers during the Rays’ second series of the season.

The city of Milwaukee enjoyed a World Series title in 1957 with the Braves and also played in the 1958 World Series.

The Guardians continue MLB’s longest franchise drought without a World Series title. The team last won the Series in 1948, when it defeated the Boston Braves in six games.

This year’s World Series will feature small-market teams, The Athletic reported. The Brewers ranked No. 19 in team payroll and the Rays are 28th, according to the Cot’s Baseball Contracts website.

Peralta was named the series MVP after allowing just one run during 12 innings, ESPN reported. That included a pair of starts and a one-inning relief stint in Game 4.

After the Rays took a 3-2 lead with a victory on Sunday, Diaz predicted the Rays would wrap up the series at home on Monday to reach the World Series.

The Rays scored two runs in the second inning on Richie Palacios’ two-out double and made it 3-0 on Jonny DeLuca’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Guardians cut the lead to 3-1 after Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the sixth.

But Caminero clanged a drive off the left-field foul pole for a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 5-1.

Cleveland had a chance in the eighth when the Guardians scored a pair of runs and had the bases loaded with the go-ahead run on first base. But reliever Kevin Kelly choked off the two-out rally by striking out Brayan Rocchio as the Rays clung to a 5-3 lead.

Diaz then made good on his prediction, crashing a two-run homer over the left field fence off Guardians closer Cade Smith for a 7-3 lead. Tampa Bay closer Bryan Baker then closed out the ninth inning to seal the victory.

“I told you, bro,” Diaz said afterward, the Times reported.

Caminero, who yelled “Tampa, this is for you!” during an on-field postgame interview, took a Rays flag, ran toward the fans and waved it at them, the newspaper reported. He then planted it briefly in the turf behind home plate.

“I’m gonna have to hear it like 20 more times for it to sink in,” Baker said, according to the Times. “It’s still not real to me yet, but I’m pretty dang excited about it. And I’m really, really proud to be going with this group of guys.”

World Series schedule (all times ET):

Game 1, Friday: at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.

Game 2, Saturday: at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.

Game 3, Oct. 26: at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m.

Game 4, Oct. 27: at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m.

Game 5*, Oct. 28: at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m.

Game 6*, Oct. 30: at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.

Game 7*, Oct. 31: at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.

* – if necessary

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