Four years ago, the Guardians knocked the Rays out of the MLB Postseason in the Wild Card Round. Now, the two teams meet in the 2026 ALCS with a spot in the World Series on the line. This matchup will feature two teams with great pitching up and down, plus two similar offenses.
Scheduled Starters & Start Times
- Game 1: Foster Griffin (Guardians) vs. Drew Rasmussen (Rays)
- Game 2: TBD vs. TBD
- Game 3: TBD vs. TBD
- Game 4: TBD vs. TBD
- Game 5: TBD vs. TBD
- Game 6: TBD vs. TBD
- Game 7: TBD vs. TBD
Games 1 and 2 will be held on October 12 and 13, respectively, at 8 PM ET. The series will then shift to Cleveland for three games. Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for October 15 and 16, respectively, at 6 PM ET. The fifth contest would be on October 17 at 8 PM ET.
Should it be necessary, the series will shift to Tropicana Field for Games 6 and 7. October 19 at 5 PM ET would be the date and time for Game 6. A seventh game would run on October 20 at 8 PM ET.
All game times are subject to change. The entire series will air on TBS.
A Look at the Offenses
| Stat |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | 678 | 736 |
| Home Runs | 162 | 169 |
| OPS | .696 | .728 |
| Whiff% | 23.3% | 20.7% |
| Hard Hit% | 35.0% | 34.6% |
The 2026 ALCS includes two teams that know how to put the ball in play and work pitchers, which will make defense all the more important.
Tampa Bay hitters whiffed at a rate of 20.2% during the ALDS, a far cry from what the White Sox did overall in the playoffs. Between the Wild Card and ALDS, White Sox hitters had a cumulative Whiff% of 33.9%.
Cleveland, meanwhile, walked 27 times during the ALDS, which easily led all teams during the Division Series.
The Rays’ offense might not have a ton of household names on it. But the club’s lineup did enough to get the job done. Junior Caminero, the behemoth of the lineup, had three hits. Former Cleveland infielder Yandy Diaz also had three hits.
And Cleveland will also have to contend with the likes of Chandler Simpson, Liam Hicks, Jonathan Aranda, and Victor Mesa Jr. Mesa Jr. introduced himself to the national baseball world with a home run in Game 3 that helped seal the Rays’ series win.
The Guardians saw the in-season acquisitions contribute. Jo Adell and Patrick Bailey, the latter of whom is more well-known for his glove, each had five hits, as did Chase DeLauter. Jose Ramirez, meanwhile, finally broke through.
Ramirez had a down second half after he came back from a hamate bone fracture. But in the final two games of the ALDS, he went deep.
A Look at the Pitching
| Stat | | |
|---|---|---|
| Starters’ ERA | 3.93 | 3.51 |
| Relievers’ ERA | 3.54 | 3.99 |
| Strikeouts | 1530 | 1322 |
| Opponents’ AVG | .238 | .229 |
| Chase% | 30.1% | 32.8% |
As we noted in our ALDS recap, the Guardians’ pitching staff had a mammoth performance against the White Sox. But also, as noted above, the Rays are a very different offensive force.
The Guardians used Parker Messick and Gavin Williams in the final two games of the ALDS, pushing Foster Griffin into a Game 1 start. Griffin had White Sox hitters eating out his hands during his Game 3 appearance. The left-hander also had the highest Chase% (50%) out of any pitcher from the Division Series round.
Griffin did not face the Rays during the regular season.
Cleveland’s bullpen was also a major strength, as Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski, and company combined for 39 strikeouts over 27 innings against the White Sox. That group also limited a power-hitting Sox offense to just one home run.
As for the Rays, Drew Rasmussen will get the ball in another Game 1. Rasmussen did a tremendous job of getting the Yankees to expand out of the strike zone, and his stuff was all the more impressive, too. Overall, Rasmussen struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings against the Yankees.
Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez may very well follow up Rasmussen, even though the actual rotation order hasn’t been announced as of this writing.
Moving to the Rays’ bullpen, Bryan Baker notched a save in all three games of the ALDS versus the Yankees.
Our Prediction
This series is very close on paper. Both teams have excellent pitching, and it’ll likely come down to which club’s offense can scrape together enough runs.
It’s hard to pick against the Rays here.
Check out more of our MLB coverage.