ALCS Game 6 Preview: Peralta Starts for the Rays Back Home; Vogt Says Ace Williams Is 'Not an Option' as Guardians Turn to a Bullpen Game
St. Petersburg, Fla. — Game 6 of the American League Championship Series is set for Monday (October 19) at 7 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, with the Tampa Bay Rays returning home with a 3-2 series lead and the Cleveland Guardians facing elimination. The game will be televised on TBS and truTV.
In Game 5 on Sunday, the Rays won 3-1 in Cleveland: starter Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings, and Bryan Baker closed out the ninth for the save. Tampa Bay is one win from another trip to the World Series, where the Milwaukee Brewers await.
The Game 6 pitching plans were set after Game 5. The Rays will start Freddy Peralta, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Peralta has pitched twice in the series — winning Game 2 as a starter and recording two outs in relief in Game 4 on Saturday — and has thrown 6 2/3 shutout innings in the ALCS, allowing four hits and striking out six.
For Cleveland, manager Stephen Vogt said after Game 5 that bringing back ace Gavin Williams on short rest was "not an option." The Guardians will open with a reliever and go with a bullpen game; Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo are both available for length. Williams won Game 3 with five innings of two-run ball and nine strikeouts, though his velocity dipped in his final inning. Cleveland has used 12 pitchers in the series, and needed six in Game 5 after starter Parker Messick lasted only two innings. (GSM, from theScore and other reports)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 圣彼得堡纯品康纳球场（Tropicana Field，光芒主场）内景资料图（非本场比赛现场图）。图：Quintin Soloviev，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 4.0（经 Commons API 实查）。Interior file photo of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of the Rays (not from this game). Photo: Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (verified via Commons API).
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