The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 on Monday night to win the American League pennant. The Rays had trailed the series 2-1 before winning three straight. An earlier rainout left both teams playing on back-to-back days with no travel day. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said starting his ace, Gavin Williams, on short rest was "not an option." He saved Williams for a possible Game 7 and opened with reliever Shawn Armstrong. The AP says Armstrong was the first pitcher in postseason history to start after pitching on both of the previous two days. Cleveland used eight pitchers. Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz hit two-run homers late. The Rays face the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night in Milwaukee.

Vogt Got Too Cute in an Elimination Game

Critics say Vogt picked the plan with the least room for error when the season was on the line.

This plan needed everything to go right. The Big Lead's Lou Landers wrote that "elimination games are not the time to get cute." He said Cleveland "chose the strategy with the smallest margin for error." He said that plan "required several pitchers to execute nearly flawlessly." He also pointed out that the bullpen had already pitched a lot in the series.

Cleveland's manager made the wrong moves during the game, too. Jacob Richard of Guardians On SI wrote that Vogt's decisions "proved to be the wrong ones." He argued Cleveland needed one pitcher who could work several innings, like Joey Cantillo or Foster Griffin. He also faulted Vogt for using closer Cade Smith in the seventh after Smith pitched the day before. Opening-day starter Tanner Bibee never pitched in the series. Richard said that if Bibee couldn't pitch, he "should not have taken up a roster spot." ClutchPoints' Nick Meyer said Vogt "appeared outfoxed," especially in how he handled his pitchers.

But Cleveland Had No Good Option Left

Others say Cleveland's pitchers were worn out, and no plan was going to fix that.

By Game 6, the pitchers were worn out. CBS Sports' Mike Axisa wrote that "Cleveland didn't have enough pitching to get through Game 6, and they would have had to play a Game 7 to win the series too." He said Smith "simply looked gassed." He said the whole bullpen looked that way too. Even Richard conceded Cleveland had few good options.

The starters weren't much help either. Before the game, ESPN's Jesse Rogers noted that rookie starter Parker Messick hadn't pitched deep into any of his playoff starts. He added that Cleveland had already relied heavily on Williams.

And the Pitching Wasn't What Lost It

Some say the bullpen did its job, and Cleveland's hitters didn't.

The bullpen held up for six innings. Tommy Wild of Roundtable Sports wrote that the plan "was controversial, but it's far from what cost them in the end." He noted the bullpen allowed three earned runs through the first six innings. He said the two late homers decided it.

The hitters left too many runners on base. ESPN reported that Cleveland went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners. Dominic Pagura of Guardians On SI called the failure to score runners "the biggest difference-maker in this game." Both teams had seven hits. Cleveland scored seven runs in its last three games, and it lost all three. After the loss, Vogt said, "I thought our guys pitched excellently today."

Where This Lands

Landers says Vogt chose the riskiest plan when the season was on the line. Richard says Vogt made the wrong moves. Axisa says Cleveland simply didn't have enough pitching left. Wild says the bullpen kept the game close and the hitters lost it. Pagura says the biggest difference was that Cleveland's hitters couldn't drive in runners. Vogt says his pitchers "pitched their tail off." The Rays head to Milwaukee for Game 1 on Friday night.

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