Rays Win American League Pennant, Will Face Brewers in World Series

The Tampa Bay Rays are heading to the World Series for the third time in their history. The American League's top seed defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the ALCS on Monday night, punching their ticket to the Fall Classic. The Rays won the pennant by turning the series around after falling behind 2-1, taking the last two games in Cleveland and then Game 6 back at Tropicana Field.

The Rays will now face the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series starting on Friday. Both teams are vying for their first-ever World Series title.

Rays Win Pennant with Game 6 Victory over Guardians

Game 6 played out much like the previous two, with the Rays grabbing the lead and playing from ahead most of the way. Led by another strong outing from Freddy Peralta , the Rays' pitching staff held Cleveland off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Peralta's third steady outing of the series (including two starts) would garner him ALCS MVP honors.

Meanwhile, Richie Palacios gave Tampa Bay another early lead. With two outs in the second inning, he poked a ball into right field that found the turf and turned into a clutch two-run double. Jonny DeLuca 's sacrifice fly one inning later stretched the lead to three, before Nathaniel Lowe answered back for Cleveland in the sixth with an RBI single to make it a 3-1 game.

The Rays delivered a pair of knockout punches in the later innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Junior Caminero hit a two-run home run off the left-field foul pole to give Tampa Bay a 5-1 lead. Cleveland made things interesting in the eighth as Rays reliever Ian Seymour faltered, issuing a walk and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to make it a 5-3 game. However, in the bottom of the frame, Yandy Díaz hit another two-run blast to restore the four-run lead and put the game away.

It's worth noting that Díaz and Caminero both started their professional careers in Cleveland's minor league system. Díaz even played parts of two seasons for the then-Indians (2017-2018) before getting traded to the Rays. It's a gut punch for Guardians fans to see two of their former prospects help finish off their team in October.

While the Guardians briefly held the upper hand in this ALCS, the better team ultimately won out. The well-rounded Rays got timely hitting in the last three games and made big plays when they needed to. Their strong pitching, especially from Peralta and breakout closer Bryan Baker, helped to quash the Guardians' offense as the series turned.

The Rays will now shift their focus to the Brewers, who had the best record in MLB this year, and are fresh off a sweep of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. This Fall Classic will be a clash of the titans, with the two top seeds in each league facing off for the title. Milwaukee will likely be favored in the series and will have home-field advantage, but don't sleep on a very deep Rays team that can hold their own against any opponent. No matter who emerges on top, we will see history this October with one team winning it all for the first time .

Main Photo Credit: Pablo Robles-Imagn Images