Tampa Bay Rays win game two over Guardians thanks to terrible error from José Ramírez, even ALCS at 1-1

The American League Championship Series has pitted two of the most unlikely franchises against each other, with a trip to the World Series on the line.

The Tampa Bay Rays entered the 2026 season with one of the three lowest payrolls in baseball, as they usually do.

They made few big additions, preferring to trust their farm system, player development staff, and the ability to mix and match players in specific situations.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians found a way to reduce spending even further, running the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, in order to maximize profits for team ownership.

Fast-forward to October, and the Rays and Guardians are the two AL teams, not the Yankees or Red Sox.

Not the Astros and Rangers from big markets in Texas.

Or the Blue Jays, with their top-5 payroll, or even Detroit, where the Tigers ran the 11th highest payroll in baseball and by far the highest in the AL Central.

DODGERS DYNASTY ON THE BRINK AFTER THE MILWAUKEE BABIP MACHINE DIALS UP ANOTHER WIN FOR BREWERS As surprising as it comes, if you haven't watched baseball before.

But maybe even more surprising? How game one of the ALCS between these two teams played out.

Cleveland, hardly known as an offensive powerhouse, fell behind 2-0 against one of the best run prevention teams in baseball.

Then, starting in the sixth inning, they started scoring and never stopped.

Home runs from Chase DeLauter and light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey tied it, and a parade of hits led to a 4-3 lead in the eighth, which they promptly expanded to 7-3 by the ninth.

The team that finished 24th in the league in runs scored, exploding for seven runs in game one of the ALCS against one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

If that doesn't demonstrate the randomness of postseason baseball, it's hard to know what does.