After splitting the first four games of the series, Tampa Bay went into Cleveland and eeked out the 3-1 win on Sunday. The offense racked up three runs on 11 hits while the pitching staff limited Cleveland to one run on five hits. The Rays now return home to the friendly confines of Tropicana Field, where Tampa Bay was an MLB-best 55-25 during the regular season, with two chances to advance to the World Series.
Freddy Peralta will take the mound for Tampa Bay while the starter has not been announced for Cleveland yet.
Tampa Bay is a 1.5-run home favorite with -140 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. Cleveland is a +116 underdog, with the game total set at O/U 6.5 runs.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $60K Bat Flip [$20K to 1st] (CLE @ TB)
Captain’s Picks
Freddy Peralta ($17,100 CP) – Peralta was traded to Tampa Bay and struggled in his first four starts. Then he was almost unhittable in eight straight starts, including the playoffs. Peralta allowed only four earned runs over 49.5 innings, with no game with more than one earned run. The BABIP was low while the strand rate was high, so I thought there was a chance he’d turn back into a pumpkin. Well, in Game 2 of the ALCS against Cleveland, all Peralta did was go six innings, walk two and strike out six while not allowing an earned run on four hits. The tweaks that the pitching staff employed for Peralta obviously worked, and that staff has had an extensive history of doing just that. I shall no longer doubt until given reason to doubt.
UTIL Plays
Junior Caminero ($10,000) – Caminero has gotten a hit in four of five games this series, but only two RBI and no home runs. It’s only a matter of time before he goes Kaboom. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Steven Kwan ($6,400) – Kwan bats leadoff and isn’t much of a threat to bash the ball over the fence. He’s more like a pest, getting on base and rarely striking out. During the regular season, the walk rate was 13.3%, strikeout rate was only 9.7% and he scored 80 runs. Kwan produced fantasy goodies in 25 straight games, with six of those in double-digits and a high of 28 FPTS before getting shut out in Game 3. Since then, Kwan went 3-for-8 with two runs in Games 4 and 5.
Liam Hicks ($7,600) – Hicks isn’t good against left-handed pitching, and it’s likely that a righty gets the nod for Cleveland in this one. During the regular season, Hicks posted a 144 wRC+ and .181 ISO against righties. He finished with 18 home runs, 66 runs, 82 RBI and three stolen bases in 554 plate appearances. The walk rate was 10.1% while the strikeout rate was only 9.9%. In Game 2 of the ALCS, Hicks went 2-for-3 with two RBI. In Game 5, he went 2-for-3 again with a RBI and a walk.
Fades
Jo Adell ($8,200) – In 18 at-bats this series, Adell has racked up two hits, two RBI, two walks and struck out six times, with at least one in every contest. During the regular season against right-handed pitching, Adell posted a 67 wRC+ with a paltry .114 ISO. The strikeout rate was 24.5% while the slash was .209/.269/.323.
