They now have a 2-1 lead as the series heads to Game 4. Teams that go up 2-1 in their respective LCS advance to the World Series 70.3% of the time.
Cleveland have posted a 2-1 ALCS lead just three times in their history (2007, 1998, 1997). They ultimately lost two of the three, with the only outlier being '97 when they defeated the Baltimore Orioles in six games.
Meanwhile, the Rays face their first 2-1 ALCS deficit in franchise history. The last time they went down 2-1 in a Postseason series was the 2021 ALDS against the Boston Red Sox, which they ended up losing in four games.
Game recap and highlights
Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams came out the gate dealing, going 1-2-3 in the first inning with a first-pitch pop-up followed by back-to-back strikeouts. Then followed up by retiring the next six batters he faced in the second and third innings.
Jose Ramirez was the first baserunner for the Guardians in Game 3 after drawing a walk. But Rays catcher Liam Hicks gunned him down trying to steal second before starting pitcher Griffin Jax forced Chase DeLauter into a groundout.
An inning later, the Guardians got on the board first thanks to an RBI double from a Nathaniel Lowe rocket to right field that scored Jo Adell all the way from first base.
It now marks Lowe's fourth RBI this Postseason and third this series. The vet bounced back after going 0-for-4 during the Guardians' Game 2 loss.
Williams finally found himself in trouble during the top of the fourth after surrendering a double to Yandy Diaz and a two-out walk to Victor Mesa Jr., putting runners on first and second.
Chandler Simpson, as he's been doing all season, came through in the clutch for the Rays after driving one down the first-base line with a two-run triple to put the Rays up 2-1.
Petey Halpin sent the Cleveland faithful into a frenzy during the bottom of the fifth inning after launching a two-run home run to put the Guardians back out in front 3-2.
It was his first career Postseason home run and his fourth hit of this playoff run, second this series.
Jax's start came to an end an at-bat later after giving up a single to Brayan Rocchio. He finished Game 3 giving up three earned runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts (67 pitches, 39 strikes).
Tyler Wells finished off the fifth inning and minimized any further damage. Hicks threw another bullet down to second yet again, this time catching Rocchio stealing.
In a shocking twist, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt pulled Williams despite throwing only 70 pitches. He left the game after five innings, giving up two runs on two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.
Daniel Espino came on in relief and immediately sent down the Rays in order, finishing it off by striking out Junior Caminero (his third strikeout of the game at that point).
Wells continued to deal for the Rays. He sent Guardians batters down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning - all on strikeouts.
Cleveland brought in Erik Sabrowski, who responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. Fast forward to an intense top of the eighth inning, Cade Smith came in for the Guardians after inheriting two outs with the speedster Jorge Mateo on third as the tying run and Diaz up at the plate.
In Smith fashion, he sent down Diaz on strikes after a 10-pitch at-bat.
The Rays bullpen continued to deal. After two shutout innings from Wells, Steven Matz, who hadn't pitched since September 26th, tossed two no-hit innings without giving up a single walk.
But it wasn't enough.
Smith finished off the Rays 1-2-3 for the official four-out save. The Guardians' bullpen retired 15 of the last 16 batters.
Game 4 of the ALCS between the Rays and Guardians will take place on Friday, October 16th, in Cleveland.
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