ST. PETERSBURG — Playoff baseball is back under the dome tonight. The top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays open the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field, with first pitch set for 8 p.m. Monday.
It's the first ALCS game played at the Trop since 2008. The Rays' 2020 pennant run ended with an ALCS played at a neutral site in San Diego, and the team spent all of 2025 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa after Hurricane Milton shredded the Trop's roof in October 2024.
The Rays got here by sweeping the New York Yankees in the Division Series. Cleveland took the hard way, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox in a decisive Game 5 on Saturday. This is the Rays' third ALCS in franchise history, and they won the pennant both previous times.
How to watch
Game 1 airs on TBS, truTV and HBO Max. Spanish-language TV coverage is on UniMas, with Spanish radio on Univision's TUDN Radio, according to MLB.com.
Who's pitching
Drew Rasmussen starts for Tampa Bay. In his last outing, ALDS Game 1 against the Yankees at the Trop, he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and struck out 10. He also threw seven scoreless, one-hit innings against Cleveland on July 26.
Cleveland goes with left-hander Foster Griffin after leaning hard on its bullpen to get past Chicago. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who started his big-league career with the Rays, called Griffin a “no-brainer” for Game 1.
The Rays will be without left-hander Shane McClanahan, who manager Kevin Cash said Sunday has been shut down for the rest of the postseason with forearm tightness. Rays Hall of Famer Carl Crawford, an outfielder on the 2008 pennant team, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Getting to the Trop
- Parking is prepaid only. The Rays say no parking will be sold at the gate for any postseason game. If you don't already have a pass, buy it online through the team's Tropicana Field parking page before you leave. Once stadium lots sell out, plan on a downtown St. Pete garage instead.
- Gates open three hours before first pitch, which puts tonight's opening at about 5 p.m. The Rays are urging fans to arrive early.
- Rideshare drop-off is at Gate 4, on 16th Street South across from Lot 1. Guests using ADA services can also be dropped off and picked up at Gate 1.
- The SunRunner bus rapid transit line, which has stops near the stadium, is another way to skip the parking hunt.
The Trop drew sellout crowds of more than 40,000 for ALDS Games 1 and 2, WUSF reported, so expect heavy traffic around the stadium and Interstate 175 well before first pitch. Tickets for the ALCS are sold through the team's postseason ticket page.
Full ALCS schedule
The best-of-seven series follows a 2-3-2 format, with all times Eastern and every game on TBS, truTV and HBO Max:
- Game 1: Monday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m., at Tropicana Field
- Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m., at Tropicana Field
- Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m., at Cleveland's Progressive Field
- Game 4: Friday, Oct. 16, 6 p.m., at Progressive Field
- Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, Oct. 17, 8 p.m., at Progressive Field
- Game 6 (if necessary): Monday, Oct. 19, 5 p.m., at Tropicana Field
- Game 7 (if necessary): Tuesday, Oct. 20, 8 p.m., at Tropicana Field
Per MLB's postseason schedule, Game 4 moves to 8 p.m. if the National League series ends in a sweep, and Game 6 moves to 8 p.m. if there's no NLCS Game 7.
A close matchup on paper
Tampa Bay won the regular-season series 5-1 and outscored Cleveland 20-8, but the games were tight: five were decided by three runs or fewer, including two 1-0 Rays wins. The teams' last playoff meeting went Cleveland's way, a 2022 Wild Card sweep that ended with a 15-inning, 1-0 game.
There's plenty of shared history, too. Rays star third baseman Junior Caminero came up in Cleveland's system before a 2021 trade, and Cash was Cleveland's bullpen coach before taking over in Tampa Bay.
Fans around the bay sound ready. “I think they have a way better shot for sure this year, and [they're] fun to watch,” Cole Schumaker told ABC Action News.
Both franchises are chasing long-awaited titles. The Rays have never won a World Series, and Cleveland's last championship came in 1948.