TAMPA (Interstat) — Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit tying home runs, Nathaniel Lowe delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning and Cleveland scored three times in the ninth to beat Tampa Bay 7-3 on Monday night at George Steinbrenner Field in Game 1 of the ALCS. The Guardians lead the series 1-0. The game drew an attendance of 35,361 and took 2 hours, 57 minutes. Cleveland improved to 89-79, while Tampa Bay moved to 101-65.

The Rays looked ready to ride their home crowd and a sharp start to an early lead. Yandy Diaz doubled in the first and scored on Junior Caminero’s single. Jonny DeLuca added an RBI single later in the inning, and Tampa Bay had a 2-0 advantage before Cleveland’s bats found traction. Foster Griffin settled in after the first, working four innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski followed with relief work before Cade Smith closed the ninth.

Cleveland had chances early but could not cash in. Steven Kwan singled in the third, and Travis Bazzana singled in the fourth, but the Guardians left runners on base. Drew Rasmussen mixed his pitches and kept Cleveland off balance, retiring the side in the fifth with two strikeouts around a Jose Ramirez strikeout. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, could not add to its lead after the first. Griffin retired the side in order in the second and third, and he worked around a DeLuca single in the fourth. The Rays put two runners on in the sixth on walks to Ryan Vilade and Ben Williamson, but Cantillo got Taylor Walls to ground out to end the threat.

Cleveland finished with 14 hits to Tampa Bay’s seven. Rasmussen struck out seven and was charged with two earned runs over six innings. The Guardians finally broke through in the sixth. DeLauter connected for a home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Bailey then tied it in the seventh with a long homer to center field. Bailey’s first-pitch drive traveled 436 feet to right-center, the longest of his major league career, and it changed the shape of the game.

The eighth inning gave Cleveland the lead for good. Jose Ramirez singled and DeLauter doubled to put runners on second and third. Lowe then grounded a two-run single up the middle to score Ramirez and DeLauter, pushing the Guardians in front 4-2. Tampa Bay answered in the bottom half when Cedric Mullins homered to right field, bringing the Rays within 4-3. But the Guardians bullpen held, and Cleveland added insurance in the ninth. Angel Martinez singled, and Ramirez followed with a single that scored Martinez after a successful Cleveland challenge on a tag play. DeLauter walked, and Jo Adell doubled to left field to score Ramirez and DeLauter, making it 7-3.

Cleveland’s bullpen was the backbone of the comeback. Griffin allowed two runs over four innings, then Espino, Cantillo, Gaddis and Sabrowski each provided relief. Gaddis earned the win, improving to 7-3, after a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout. Smith pitched a scoreless ninth, and Espino struck out three in his inning. Cantillo walked two but did not allow a hit or a run. Sabrowski pitched the eighth and allowed Mullins’ homer. Tampa Bay’s Tyler Wells took the loss, falling to 5-3. Ian Seymour and Cam Booser also pitched in relief. Booser worked a scoreless inning with one strikeout, while Seymour recorded two outs and allowed one hit with one strikeout.

DeLauter paced Cleveland’s offense with three hits in four at-bats, including a home run and an RBI. Bailey homered and drove in a run. Lowe’s eighth-inning single drove in two. Adell doubled in two runs in the ninth. Ramirez, Martinez, Kwan, Bazzana and others helped Cleveland build its 14-hit attack. For Tampa Bay, Mullins homered and drove in a run after entering as a pinch runner in center field. Diaz, Caminero, DeLuca and Victor Mesa Jr. contributed hits, but the Rays managed only seven as a team. Cleveland pitchers combined for 12 strikes, 34 balls and 12 balls in play. Tampa Bay pitchers combined for 20 strikes, 39 balls and 20 balls in play.

The win gave Cleveland its fourth consecutive victory and continued a postseason run that began with a comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the ALDS. The Guardians became the 11th team to lose the first two games of a best-of-five postseason series and then win it. Tampa Bay, the top team in the American League during the regular season and a 101-win club, now trails the series 1-0. The Rays had been the pregame favorite and had looked in control early, but Cleveland’s power and timely hitting flipped Game 1. Cleveland’s defense and relief work kept the Rays from adding to their early lead, while the Guardians’ lineup finally solved a Tampa Bay pitching staff that had been sharp for much of the night.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cleveland Guardians 5, Tampa Bay Rays 9. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tampa Bay with a 58.8 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over/under line of 7.