{"id":954,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/954","headline":"Rays beat Guardians in Game 6, head to World Series against Brewers","dek":"Yandy Diaz's eighth-inning two-run homer sealed a 7-3 win and sent Tampa Bay to its first pennant since 2020.","body":"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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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.","published_at":"2026-10-20T06:20:19.281214+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"10 things to know about the Tampa Bay Rays, Brewers' World Series foe","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/10-things-know-tampa-bay-032619578.html"},{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"Rays Are Back In World Series: 3 Takeaways From ALCS Game 6","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/rays-back-world-series-3-takeaways-from-alcs-game-6"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Rays, composed and commanding in Game 6, are World Series-bound","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7703360/2026/10/19/rays-guardians-game-6-score-results-takeaways-mlb-alcs-2026/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB Championship Series 2026 discussion thread: Day 9","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-championship-series-2026-discussion-230000019.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB teams to never win a World Series: 2026 will have first-time champion","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-teams-never-win-world-030446920.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Rays clinch ALCS with Game 6 win, to face Brewers in World Series","url":"https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50224233/rays-clinch-alcs-game-6-face-brewers-world-series"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"10 things to know about the Tampa Bay Rays, Brewers' World Series foe","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/10-things-know-tampa-bay-032619382.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Cleveland’s painful World Series drought continues at hands of Tampa Bay Rays","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cleveland-painful-world-series-drought-033303200.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"World Series odds: Brewers open as favorites against Rays","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7706465/2026/10/19/world-series-odds-brewers-rays/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays Punch Their Ticket to the World Series With 7-3 Win Over Guardians!","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-punch-ticket-world-series-035807626.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Tampa Bay Rays book World Series clash with Milwaukee Brewers","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tampa-bay-rays-book-world-040321536.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays beat Guardians 7-3 and earn a trip to the World Series","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-beat-guardians-7-3-233202558.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays join Brewers in 2026 World Series after ALCS win vs. Guardians","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-join-brewers-2026-world-042359243.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays’ Junior Caminero lets it all out with message after eliminating Guardians","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-junior-caminero-lets-message-044921964.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rays Win American League Pennant, Will Face Brewers in World Series","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rays-win-american-league-pennant-044309316.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kevin Cash’s post-ALCS comments will have Rays fans booking flights to Milwaukee","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kevin-cash-post-alcs-comments-062606495.html"}],"image":null,"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}