CLEVELAND — Jonathan Aranda had three hits, drove in two and scored the go-ahead run on Junior Caminero’s sixth-inning double as the Tampa Bay Rays evened the American League Championship Series (ALCS) with a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 on Saturday.
The best-of-seven matchup is level at two wins apiece, guaranteeing that the series will return to St. Petersburg, Florida, for Game 6 on Monday. Game 5 will be played on Sunday in Cleveland.
Caminero doubled sharply to score Aranda in the sixth and give Tampa Bay a 2-1 advantage against Daniel Espino (0-1). The Rays tacked on three runs in the seventh, two of them on Aranda’s single to right that Chase DeLauter misplayed for an error.
Aranda came around for his second run on Chandler Simpson’s sacrifice fly off Slade Cecconi later in the seventh, extending the Rays’ lead to 5-1. Yandy Diaz added a two-run homer in the ninth off Matt Festa to push Tampa Bay’s advantage to 7-3.
Nick Martinez (1-0) pitched 5 1/3 strong innings for the win, allowing one run on two hits for AL East champion Tampa Bay. The right-hander struck out three and walked two, retiring 11 straight batters between the first and fifth innings.
AL Central champion Cleveland pulled within 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs against Ian Seymour. Travis Bazzana hit a solo homer and Brayan Rocchio later singled in Patrick Bailey, all with two outs.
DeLauter gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead with a single in the first, bringing home Steven Kwan. Cleveland had failed to score in 13 innings against Martinez in the regular season, losing twice in two games.
The Rays tied it at 1-1 in the third on Aranda’s two-out single off Foster Griffin, scoring Diaz. Tampa Bay didn’t have a hit in its first time through the order, but leadoff batter Diaz doubled in his second at-bat.
Guardians star Jose Ramirez went 0-for-3 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 16 postseason games and tying the Cleveland franchise record.
The first-pitch temperature was 46 degrees. One night earlier, Cleveland experienced its first-ever postseason home rainout. — Reuters