On Monday night, 19 October 2026, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It is the franchise’s third AL pennant in 29 major-league seasons. NPR, after the Associated Press, and MLB.com match on the score.

Yandy Díaz and Junior Caminero each hit a two-run homer. Freddy Peralta threw 5 1/3 innings and was named series MVP. Richie Palacios opened the scoring with a two-run double in the second. Bryan Baker closed the game.

Díaz had said through an interpreter on Sunday that the Rays would win Game 6. On Monday, in the eighth, he hit a 416-foot homer off Hunter Gaddis. President of baseball operations Erik Neander said Díaz had backed up the claim.

The World Series opponent is the Milwaukee Brewers, champions of the National League. MLB.com writes that the Brewers swept the back-to-back champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS and closed that series on 15 October. Neither the Rays nor the Brewers have won a World Series. It is the first such final since 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals.

Game 1 is set for Friday, 23 October, at American Family Field, 8 p.m. Eastern. The Brewers had the majors’ best regular-season record, 103-59, and host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 if the series goes that far. The Rays, 98-64, host Games 3-5 at Tropicana Field. That is MLB’s schedule, not a forecast of who lifts the trophy.

For Cleveland, the loss stretches a title drought to 78 years. The franchise last won the World Series in 1948. Manager Stephen Vogt said it stung and that the team did not get where it thought it could.

For the Rays, it is a third World Series, after 2008 and 2020. The 2020 final, in the pandemic, was played in Arlington, not at home. Game 3 of this series, if it is played, would be the first World Series game at Tropicana Field in 18 years. That is the schedule, not a result.

Image: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, 13 May 2009, Raman Patel, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The stadium exterior, not Game 6 on 19 October 2026.

Sources consulted: Rays will face Brewers in World Series to produce a first-time champion — NPR; Rays finish off Guards to set up World Series clash vs. Crew — MLB.com.