Rays rested, ready for ALCS battle vs. Guardians

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash found himself addressing the rest-versus-rust debate for the second time this postseason.

Cash's top-seeded team earned a bye before facing the rival New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. A three-game sweep enabled the Rays to enjoy another breather before Game 1 of the AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"Yeah, I like the fact that it was a little bit shorter rest," Cash said on Sunday. "It was long heading in from the wild card to the DS. We were able to work a 5 1/2-, six-inning scrimmage yesterday. Got all of our relievers throwing an inning.

"We've rolled out two lineups to play. We had the stadium-noise crowd effect. We had the walkout songs coming up. We even had the ABS and pulled some umpires over. So you try to replicate it.

"I know it's not that, but I do think it's good that we're playing (Monday) because I would imagine any more time off and then you start to get antsy."

It is the franchise's third trip to the ALCS. The first two came in 2008 and 2020, and in both cases the Rays advanced to the World Series, where they lost each time.

The Rays went 5-1 against the Guardians this season, including a three-game sweep in St. Petersburg in late July.

Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 0.00 ERA) capped that sweep of Cleveland by allowing one hit and striking out nine over seven scoreless innings of a 1-0 victory on July 26.

Rasmussen, however, remembers the lone setback in the season series versus the Guardians.

"You said we were 5-1. I'm pretty sure I started the one day we lost," he said.

Rasmussen was right. He yielded three runs (two earned) in five innings of a 3-1 setback to the host Guardians on April 29. Overall, he is 1-1 with a 2.73 ERA in eight career meetings (six starts) versus Cleveland.

Rasmussen carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and struck out 10 in a 1-0 victory over the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS on Oct. 3.

While Rasmussen and the Rays have been resting, the Guardians went the distance before defeating the upstart Chicago White Sox in five games to advance to the ALCS for the second time in three seasons.

Jose Ramirez belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning in Cleveland's 2-0 series-clinching victory over Chicago on Saturday. He went 5-for-12 with a double, a triple, two homers and seven RBIs in the last three games of the set.

"He's Cleveland. He's Cleveland baseball," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Ramirez. "... He's been through a lot this year. We've been through a lot this year. We cannot wait to play again on Monday."

Ramirez, however, went 3-for-20 in the season series versus Tampa Bay.

Guardians left-hander Foster Griffin (1-0, 3.38) will get the start on Monday.

Griffin allowed one run on two hits and struck out seven in 2 2/3 innings of relief in a 9-3 win over the White Sox on Wednesday.

He permitted one hit over two scoreless innings in a no-decision in his lone career appearance versus Tampa Bay.