It’s all square. Tampa Bay and Cleveland arrive at Progressive Field tied 2-2 in the American League Championship Series, and Game 5 on October 18, 2026 could swing the whole thing. First pitch is set for 5:08 p.m. ET.
Game Info
- Matchup: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians
- Series: ALCS — Game 5 (best of 7)
- Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland
- First Pitch: 5:08 p.m. ET
- Series Record: Rays 2 – Guardians 2
Starting Pitchers
- Tampa Bay — Drew Rasmussen (RHP): 16-5, 2.67 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 174 strikeouts in 172.0 innings
- Cleveland — Parker Messick (LHP): 12-9, 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 193 strikeouts in 186.1 innings
Where to Watch
🇺🇸 United States
- In Spanish: Telemundo, UniMás / TUDN, Universo, FOX Deportes, ESPN Deportes, Peacock
- Rays local: RAYS (MLB Local Media), WMOR (OTA), RAYS.TV — no local blackout inside the MLB app
- Guardians local: CLEG (MLB Local Media), WKYC (OTA), CLEGUARDIANS.TV — no local blackout inside the MLB app
🇲🇽 Mexico — 3:08 p.m. CDMX
- Canal 5
- NU9VE (Canal 9) — Sunday games
- ESPN / Disney+
- TUDN
- Canal FOX
🇻🇪 Venezuela — 5:08 p.m. Caracas
- Televén (free) — mainly weekends; free streaming on mobile app
- 1BASEBALL — up to 3 games/day via Simple, Inter and NetUno GO
- ByM SPORT — 6 days a week via Inter and Simple
- IVC — Tuesday through Sunday
- ESPN / Disney+
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic — 5:08 p.m. Santo Domingo
- Teleantillas Canal 10 (free) — 7 games per week, every day, free; seventh consecutive year covering Opening Day through the World Series, including the All-Star Game and full postseason
- ESPN
- 1BASEBALL — via Altice
- FOX / FS1 / FS2 / FOX Deportes
- teleantillas.com.do (free)
- MLB.TV
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico — 5:08 p.m. ET
- WAPA Deportes (free) — regular season, typically Fri–Sun; exclusive island broadcast of the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby
- MLB.TV
A Note on MLB.TV
MLB.TV remains an out-of-market product. For 22 of 30 clubs, a separate local in-market subscription is available inside the MLB app (around $19.99/month or $99.99/season), and it is blackout-free locally. Games exclusive to national broadcast partners — Netflix, NBC/Peacock, Apple TV, FOX, ESPN — are not included in MLB.TV; that’s not a blackout, they simply aren’t part of the package. No public blackout map exists for Latin American countries, so availability may vary.
Why This Game Matters
A Rays win puts Tampa Bay one step away from their first World Series trip since 2020. A Guardians win keeps the series at home and forces Cleveland to travel to Florida with momentum on their side. Either way, the pitching matchup is the story: Messick’s 193 strikeouts against Rasmussen’s 0.91 WHIP sets up a battle where every at-bat counts.
This article will be updated after the final out with the result, key plays, and a video recap.
