Lowe’s eighth-inning single lifts Guardians to 7-3 Game 1 ALCS win over Rays

Nate Lowe’s go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning sent the Cleveland Guardians past the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Monday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Guardians, opening on the road at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, broke a 2-2 tie when Lowe lined a hit that scored Chase DeLauter and José Ramírez and put Cleveland in front for good.

Tampa Bay had led 2-0 before Cleveland’s rally began. DeLauter got the Guardians on the board with a solo home run in the sixth inning, and Patrick Bailey tied it with another solo shot in the seventh off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. Lowe’s single in the eighth swung the game, though the Rays answered in the bottom half when Cedric Mullins hit a solo homer to trim the deficit to 4-3. Cleveland then pulled away in the ninth, when Ramírez drove in a run with a single and Jo Adell followed with a two-run double. The Guardians finished with seven runs on 14 hits, while the Rays had three runs on seven hits. Neither team committed an error.

DeLauter led Cleveland’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three runs scored. Ramírez was 3-for-5 and scored twice, while Lowe finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Rasmussen kept Tampa Bay in control early, working six innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out seven on 91 pitches, but the Rays could not hold the tie after his exit. Cleveland starter Foster Griffin lasted four innings and threw 63 pitches before the Guardians turned the game over to their bullpen.

The road win mattered for a Cleveland club that entered the series as the lower seed after winning the AL Central at 85-77. Tampa Bay, the AL East champion at 98-64, opened the series at home after the stronger regular season. The Guardians also arrived in the ALCS after overcoming a 0-2 deficit in the Division Series. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET in St. Petersburg and will be televised on TBS, truTV and UniMas, with streaming on HBO Max.