The 2026 American League Championship Series is headed to Ohio all tied up at one game apiece.
The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in Game 2 of the ALCS on Tuesday. Tampa Bay trade-deadline acquisition Freddy Peralta tossed six shutout innings, helping the Rays secure at least one home win to start this best-of-seven series. And now, the Guardians will look to respond by giving the ball to one of their American League Division Series heroes.
Here are the expected starting pitchers for Game 3 of the 2026 ALCS.
Rays
In Game 3 of their ALDS matchup against the New York Yankees, the Rays started right-hander Nick Martinez. But now, right-hander Griffin Jax is scheduled to start Game 3 for Tampa Bay on Thursday. The 31-year-old threw two innings of relief in Game 3 of the ALDS, allowing one run and striking out four.
Jax has been used as a starter and reliever in 2026. However, the 6-foot-2 righty hasn't thrown more than five innings in an outing since late July. So, the Rays will most likely have several relievers ready to follow the 2016 third-round draft pick.
Left-hander Ian Seymour has been a key contributor out of Tampa Bay's bullpen this postseason. The 27-year-old has allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings of relief in the 2026 MLB playoffs so far, and he's pitched in the first two games of the ALCS. If Game 3 is close, the southpaw could be called on again before Rays manager Kevin Cash turns to closer Bryan Baker.
Guardians
Right-hander Gavin Williams is expected to start Game 3 of the ALCS for the Guardians. The 27-year-old was one of Cleveland's stars against the Chicago White Sox in the ALDS, pitching in three of the five games and racking up 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings. After closing out Game 4, the hard-throwing righty tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings to start Game 5, allowing just one hit and striking out 12.
Most of the Guardians' high-leverage relievers, including closer Cade Smith, weren't used in their Game 2 loss on Tuesday. That means Cleveland's bullpen should be well-rested and able to back up Williams in his pivotal Game 3 start.
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