Yandy Diaz's eighth-inning two-run homer sealed a 7-3 win and sent Tampa Bay to its first pennant since 2020.
The Tampa Bay Rays are headed back to the World Series after beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the ALCS. Yandy Diaz, the franchise leader in postseason games played, delivered the decisive blow with a two-run home run off Hunter Gaddis in the eighth inning. It was, by his own account, exactly how he said it would go: Diaz had predicted the Rays would close it out on Monday, and he made sure of it himself.
The win gives Tampa Bay its first American League pennant since 2020 and sets up a World Series matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers, beginning Friday night at American Family Field for Game 1. Both franchises are still chasing their first championship, making this the first guaranteed first-time winner in the Fall Classic since the Phillies and Royals met in 1980.
The Brewers and Rays split their regular-season meetings, with Milwaukee taking two of three at American Family Field, though those games date back to the season's first week in March. Whoever wins this series trims MLB's list of title-less franchises down to four, leaving the Mariners, Rockies and Padres still searching.