The Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Monday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, rallying from an early 2-0 hole at Tropicana Field, the AP reported.

Tampa Bay grabbed the lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca. Rays starter Drew Rasmussen held it into the sixth, when Chase DeLauter led off with an opposite-field homer. Patrick Bailey tied the game in the seventh, sending the first pitch he saw 436 feet for the longest homer of his career, MLB.com reported, and that ended Rasmussen's night.

In the eighth, José Ramírez singled and DeLauter doubled. Nathaniel Lowe, who made his major league debut with the Rays in 2019, then lined an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run single and a 4-2 lead. Cedric Mullins homered for Tampa Bay in the bottom half, but Cleveland answered by scoring three more runs in the ninth inning.

Ramírez went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, Sports Illustrated reported, and DeLauter was a triple shy of the cycle, the AP reported, as Cleveland piled up 14 hits. That is more than the 12 hits Tampa Bay allowed in its whole Division Series against the New York Yankees.

Starter Foster Griffin gave up two runs in four innings. Then five Guardians relievers allowed one run on two hits over five innings, and Cade Smith threw a perfect ninth. "We got punched early," manager Stephen Vogt said, adding that the pitching staff kept the Guardians in the game "and the offense came alive," the AP reported.

Cleveland has won four straight postseason games after losing the first two games of its Division Series to the Chicago White Sox. The 98-win Rays had swept the Yankees and never trailed in that series. "It's been a while since we lost," Rays manager Kevin Cash said, the AP reported.

A crowd of 35,361 waved yellow towels at Tropicana Field for the Rays' third ALCS appearance in their 29-season history. Rookie lefty Parker Messick starts Game 2 for Cleveland on Tuesday night against right-hander Freddy Peralta.

What we know: Cleveland leads the series 1-0 after scoring seven runs in the last four innings.
What we don't: Whether the Rays' bullpen, which let the game slip late, can steady itself in Game 2.