Freddy Peralta, big bats deliver Rays past Guardians in ALCS Game 6 to secure World Series date with Brewers

The Tampa Bay Rays are World Series-bound.

Behind an MVP effort from starting pitcher Freddy Peralta and some clutch hits from Richie Palacios, Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz, the Rays secured a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

With the win, the Rays clinched a 4-2 series win and booked a date with the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. There, either the Rays or the Brewers will win the first World Series in their franchise's history. The Padres, Rockies, Mariners, Rays and Brewers are the five MLB teams that have never won a title.

With a chance to secure their spot against the Brewers, the Rays looked to starter Freddy Peralta, who pitched six shutout innings in a Game 2 victory that tied the series 1-1 and made a two-out relief appearance in Game 4. Peralta delivered again Monday with 5 1/3 one-run innings to pace the Tampa Bay win.

It wasn't as clean of a start as his Game 2 gem, and manager Kevin Cash pulled Peralta after he allowed his first run of the series on a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single in the fifth. Still, Peralta left the game with Tampa Bay holding a 3-1 lead thanks in part to a clutch double from Palacios.

When he was finished Monday, Peralta had surrendered 1 earned run on 5 hits and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts on 84 pitches. And he secured his second win of the series.

It was good enough for Peralta to win ALCS MVP honors, continuing a stellar run since his arrival in Tampa Bay via midseason trade from the New York Mets. In 16 2/3 postseason innings, Peralta has allowed two runs.

Palacios gets Tampa Bay scoring binge started

Cleveland countered Peralta with a bullpen game, hoping to win Game 6 and hand the ball to ace Gavin Williams in Game 7. Opener Shawn Armstrong got off to a strong start, needing just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning. But he was pulled in the second after allowing a leadoff single that eventually produced a run.

With runners on second and third and two outs in the second, Palacios roped a double into right-center field to spot the Rays a 2-0 lead.

Tampa Bay added another run in the third on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Jonny DeLuca.

The Guardians got one back in the top of the sixth, and then Junior Caminero delivered for the Rays with a two-run home run off the left-field foul pole to extend their lead to 5-1 in the seventh.

The Guardians applied pressure in the eighth, loading the bases against Tyler Wells and Ian Seymour. Seymour came out of the bullpen with runners on first and second with two outs.

He walked Travis Bazzana to load the bases. He walked Patrick Bailey to score a run. Then he hit pinch hitter Angel Martínez with a pitch to score another Guardians run. With the lead down to two runs, a previously jubilant home crowd in St. Petersburg got tense.

With that, manager Kevin Cash called Kevin Kelly out of the bullpen to put out the fire. Kelly delivered with an inning-ending strikeout of Brayan Rocchio to maintain Cleveland's 5-3 advantage.

The tension in the top of the eighth set up Díaz to restart the party in the bottom of the frame.

With a man on first and one out, he delivered a no-doubt home run into the left-field bleachers to send the Tropicana Field crowd into a frenzy.

With a 7-3 lead and All-Star closer Bryan Baker due up in the ninth, the Rays and their fans could taste it. And Baker delivered with a 1-2-3 frame to close out the game and clinch the AL pennant for Tampa Bay.

Up next is Game 1 against the Brewers on Friday in Milwaukee . That means plenty of time for both teams to rest and prepare. A matchup of Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski and Rays ace Drew Rasmussen could be in store in Game 1.