CLEVELAND—The Guardians were certain of two things: José Ramírez would deliver, and Amed Rosario touched second base.
Cleveland’s kids were right.
Ramírez connected for a two-run homer, Shane Bieber dominated Tampa Bay for 7 2/3 innings and the young Guardians played with poise in their postseason debut, beating the Rays 2–1 in the wild-card opener on Friday.
Ramírez’s shot off Tampa’s Shane McClanahan in the sixth inning—the Rays initially appealed whether Rosario stepped on second—helped Cleveland end an eight-game postseason losing streak and left baseball’s youngest team one win from advancing in its first season as the Guardians….