TAMPA (Interstat) — Cleveland visits Tampa Bay on Monday for Game 1 of their playoff series at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. The Guardians will be the visiting team, while the Rays will have home-field advantage in the opener. The forecast for game time calls for 77 degrees.

Tampa Bay enters at 101-64. Cleveland is 88-79. The Rays have won the past three meetings between the teams, all at home, including a 1-0 victory in the most recent matchup. Tampa Bay swept a three-game series against Cleveland earlier this season and has outscored the Guardians 15-3 during the current three-game winning streak in the series.

Cleveland is expected to start Foster Griffin, who is 16-6. Tampa Bay is expected to counter with Drew Rasmussen, who is 17-5.

Gavin Williams is a player to watch for Cleveland. Williams has been sharp in his recent starts, including a 5 2/3-inning effort in which he allowed one hit, no earned runs and two walks while striking out 12. He also struck out 11 over five innings in another recent outing and tossed seven scoreless innings with three hits, one walk and nine strikeouts in a win against the Athletics. Williams has given Cleveland length and swing-and-miss stuff during the late-season stretch.

Bryan Baker is a player to watch for Tampa Bay. The reliever has not allowed an earned run in seven straight appearances. Over his past five outings, he has permitted one hit across five innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. Baker struck out two in a scoreless inning in his most recent appearance and has been a steady late-inning option for the Rays.

Cleveland enters after a 2-0 win against the Chicago White Sox. Williams pitched 5 2/3 innings with one hit and 12 strikeouts, Cade Smith followed with 1 2/3 hitless innings and four strikeouts, and José Ramírez homered and drove in two runs.

Tampa Bay enters after a 4-3 win at the New York Yankees. Baker struck out two in a scoreless inning, Griffin Jax allowed one run over two innings, and Nick Martinez gave up two runs over 3 2/3 innings. The Rays have won five of their past six games.

The series will continue with Game 2 in Tampa Bay before shifting to Cleveland for three games. It would return to Tampa Bay for the final two games.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Tampa Bay 9, Cleveland 5. Interstat’s ELO system gives Tampa Bay a 58.8 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay is installed as a -1.5 favorite, and the over/under is 7.