The Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from reaching the World Series for the third time in franchise history.
Tampa Bay defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in Game 5 of the ALCS on Sunday to take a 3-2 series lead.
Drew Rasmussen was masterful over seven innings at Progressive Field, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts to pick up the victory.
"The way he limited anything was really, really impressive," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
The AL Cy Young contender owns a 1.29 ERA with three walks and 23 strikeouts over 21 innings in the playoffs.
"Three fastballs and a really good change-up," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Rasmussen. "I thought we worked some good counts against him. I thought we laid off some tough pitches. But it's really hard to square up with three fastballs like that. And he had them all working."
The Rays now have two cracks at home to advance to the Fall Classic against the Milwaukee Brewers. Game 6 goes Monday at Tropicana Field.
"We know we've got our work cut out for us," Vogt said. "It's a really good team and a really good team when they play at home, especially. So we know this is going to be tough but if there's a group I'm betting on to get this done, it's our guys."
Tampa Bay reached the World Series in 2008 and 2020 but lost each time.
