The Guardians and Rays went into 15 innings without a single run before Cleveland finally broke through. Corey Kluber came in for Tampa and started strong with a perfect pitch that didn’t get called a strike. He tried again, pulled it slightly more inside, and it got crushed. Walk-off. Guardians win 1-0, sweep the Wild Card series, and end the Rays’ season. The crowd in Cleveland erupted, and the dugout celebrations got weird fast.
Will Benson sprinted for the Gatorade cooler, clearly ready for hero duty but flubbed the lift. He tried switching hands mid-lift, couldn’t handle it, and dropped the whole thing. Total fail. No one ended up soaked. Disappointed teammates all around. Then came the chaos. Hedges crashed off the cooler. J-Ram went straight for Rosario’s bald head like it was a good luck charm. Naylor screamed and dropped a celebration move that no one could quite identify. Everything spiraled into a joyful mess.
The game itself was dull until the very end, but Cleveland made the final moment count. One big swing, one chaotic celebration, and now they move on to the Division Series.