The Guardians’ long championship drought will extend another year, with Cleveland being eliminated by the top-seeded Rays in the ALCS.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just four days ago, the Guardians appeared to be in firm control of their destiny, sitting just two wins away from the World Series after taking a 2-1 lead on the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series.

But after that, nothing went right, and now it is Tampa Bay that will enjoy a date in the Fall Classic.

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A wild-but-memorable season in Cleveland came to a heartbreaking end Monday night in St. Petersburg, Florida, as the Rays silenced the Guards one more time in a 7-3 Game 6 victory to clinch the series. Tampa wins its third AL pennant in history and will meet the Milwaukee Brewers beginning this Friday in a battle of teams who have never won the World Series, while Cleveland will see its MLB-worst championship drought extend to 79 years.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our group,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told reporters after the game. “This hurts. This stings. Felt like we really had a team to go and just weren’t able to get there, but I couldn’t be more proud of our entire group.”

Both teams had seven hits, but the Guardians went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Rays’ lineup made the most of its chances, with Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz (both traded away by Cleveland years ago before the developed into All-Stars) each hitting two-run homers in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, to bury the Guards for good.

Trailing 5-1 entering the eighth, the Guardians finally showed some life, forcing two runs home on a walk and hit batter by Ian Seymour to cut the deficit to two. However, Kevin Kelly relieved Seymour and struck Brayan Rocchio out on three pitches to retire the side, paving the way for Díaz’s 416-foot blast of Hunter Gaddis that pushed Tampa Bay’s lead back to four.

Díaz, who guaranteed victory prior to Game 6, finished the series batting .333 with two homers, four RBIs, and six runs scored against his former team.

After “opener” Shawn Armstrong pitched a perfect first, Vogt’s bullpen strategy backfired, as Armstrong gave up a Caminero single to lead off the second before Tim Herrin came in and walked Victor Mesa Jr. to set up a two-run double by Richie Palacios (another former Guardian) that put Tampa up 2-0.

Vogt used eight pitchers on the evening, and none of them were able to throw more than 1 2/3 innings. Even Cade Smith proved mortal, serving up the home run to Caminero in the seventh to make it 5-1.

“It didn’t go perfectly, obviously, but everybody stepped up and pitched their tail off today,” Vogt said of the strategy. “It’s a gut punch in the seventh, and our guys came right back and got the tying run at second, go-ahead run at first, and our guys never quit. They never stopped fighting. That’s who they are, but I thought our guys pitched excellent today.”

By contrast, Rays starter Freddy Peralta proved excellent again, gutting through 5 1/2 innings of one-run ball. The two-time All-Star was named ALCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in 12 innings, even making a surprise relief appearance in Game 4.

The Guardians averaged just 2.2 runs per contest over the final five games of the series. Star third baseman José Ramírez also went 0 for 4 with a walk on Monday.

2026 was a season of twists and turns in Cleveland, with the young Guards rallying from injuries and inconsistent play to win the AL Central Division for the third year in a row since Vogt took over as manager. There were plenty of highlights in the playoffs, too, particularly when the team came back from an 0-2 deficit to out the Chicago White Sox in the AL Division Series.

Yet while those wonderful memories will surely live on, they won’t provide much comfort in this moment to the Guardians or their fans, who remain without a World Series title since 1948.

“Let it hurt, let it sink in,” Vogt said he told his players after the loss. “Let if fuel you this winter.”

Game 1 of the World Series between the Rays and Brewers will take place Friday night in Milwaukee in a matchup of the best teams record-wise in the AL and NL, respectively.