Cleveland Guardians 0 – 1 Tampa Bay Rays

MLB · July 26, 2026 · Final

🎧 Post-Game Report (audio)

Post-Game Recap

The Tampa Bay Rays shut out the Cleveland Guardians one to nothing on Saturday afternoon, and it took just one swing — or rather, one bunt — to decide it all.

For four and a half innings this game was a pitching duel, both sides generating almost nothing offensively. Then in the fifth, Tampa Bay manufactured the only run this game would ever see. Cedric Mullins dropped a bunt single down the first base line, and Simpson came around to score. That was it. One play, one run, ballgame.

Cleveland had their chances. Steven Kwan picked up the Guardians' lone hit, going one for four, and Chase DeLauter drew two walks, but Cleveland could never push anyone across. José Ramírez went oh for four with a strikeout — a quiet afternoon for the man you need to be loud. Brayan Rocchio fanned twice and never found his footing.

For Tampa Bay, the offense was similarly muted — Ryan Vilade had their only hit — but they didn't need anything more. Their pitching staff protected that single run from the fifth inning all the way to the final out, and that was more than enough.

In a game this tight, the team that manufactures one smart run and then slams the door wins. Today, that was Tampa Bay. That's your post-game report. Sports Desk, signing off.

AI-generated post-game report composed from the official play-by-play and box score.

Who Scored — Scoring Timeline

Mullins reached on bunt single to first, Simpson scored. P5 · 0–1

Complete Play-by-Play

Show all 454 plays

Top of the 1st inning P1

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Steven Kwan P1

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P1

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P1

Kwan doubled to right. P1

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Jose Ramirez P1

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P1

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P1

Ramírez flied out to left. P1

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Chase DeLauter P1

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 2 : Ball 2 P1

Pitch 3 : Strike 1 Swinging P1

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P1

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P1

Pitch 6 : Ball 3 P1

Pitch 7 : Strike 3 Swinging P1

DeLauter struck out swinging. P1

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Brayan Rocchio P1

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P1

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Looking P1

Pitch 3 : Strike 3 Swinging P1

Rocchio struck out swinging. P1

Middle of the 1st inning P1

Bottom of the 1st inning P1

Parker Messick pitches to Yandy Diaz P1

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Foul P1

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P1

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P1

Pitch 5 : Strike 3 Looking P1

Díaz struck out looking. P1

Parker Messick pitches to Ryan Vilade P1

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Foul P1

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P1

Pitch 4 : Ball In Play P1

Vilade fouled out to first. P1

Parker Messick pitches to Junior Caminero P1

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P1

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Foul P1

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P1

Caminero flied out to center. P1

End of the 1st inning P1

Top of the 2nd inning P2

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Travis Bazzana P2

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P2

Bazzana flied out to left. P2

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Angel Martinez P2

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P2

Pitch 2 : Ball 2 P2

Pitch 3 : Strike 1 Swinging P2

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P2

Pitch 5 : Strike 3 Swinging P2

Martínez struck out swinging. P2

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Kyle Manzardo P2

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Foul P2

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Swinging P2

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P2

Pitch 4 : Strike 3 Swinging P2

Manzardo struck out swinging. P2

Middle of the 2nd inning P2

Bottom of the 2nd inning P2

Parker Messick pitches to Jonny DeLuca P2

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P2

DeLuca lined out to center. P2

Parker Messick pitches to Chandler Simpson P2

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P2

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Looking P2

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P2

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P2

Pitch 5 : Ball In Play P2

Simpson grounded out to first. P2

Parker Messick pitches to Ben Williamson P2

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P2

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P2

Williamson grounded out to pitcher. P2

End of the 2nd inning P2

Top of the 3rd inning P3

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Austin Hedges P3

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P3

Hedges flied out to right. P3

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Petey Halpin P3

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P3

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P3

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P3

Halpin hit by pitch. P3

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Steven Kwan P3

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P3

Pitch 2 : Ball 2 P3

Pitch 3 : Strike 1 Looking P3

Pitch 4 : Ball 3 P3

Halpin stole second. P3

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P3

Pitch 6 : Ball In Play P3

Kwan fouled out to left. P3

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Jose Ramirez P3

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P3

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Foul P3

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Swinging P3

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P3

Pitch 5 : Ball 3 P3

Pitch 6 : Strike 3 Swinging P3

Ramírez struck out swinging. P3

Middle of the 3rd inning P3

Bottom of the 3rd inning P3

Parker Messick pitches to Cedric Mullins P3

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P3

Mullins popped out to shortstop. P3

Parker Messick pitches to Nick Fortes P3

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P3

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Looking P3

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P3

Pitch 4 : Ball 1 P3

Pitch 5 : Ball In Play P3

Fortes doubled to right. P3

Parker Messick pitches to Richie Palacios P3

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P3

Palacios grounded out to second, Fortes to third. P3

Parker Messick pitches to Yandy Diaz P3

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P3

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P3

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P3

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Swinging P3

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P3

Pitch 6 : Ball In Play P3

Díaz lined out to first. P3

End of the 3rd inning P3

Top of the 4th inning P4

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Chase DeLauter P4

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P4

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P4

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 5 : Ball 2 P4

Pitch 6 : Ball 3 P4

Pitch 7 : Ball 4 P4

DeLauter walked. P4

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Brayan Rocchio P4

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P4

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P4

Rocchio grounded out to first, DeLauter to second. P4

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Travis Bazzana P4

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P4

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P4

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P4

Pitch 5 : Ball In Play P4

Bazzana flied out to right. P4

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Angel Martinez P4

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P4

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P4

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P4

Martínez grounded out to second. P4

Middle of the 4th inning P4

Bottom of the 4th inning P4

Parker Messick pitches to Ryan Vilade P4

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P4

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P4

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Swinging P4

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P4

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 6 : Strike 3 Swinging P4

Vilade struck out swinging. P4

Parker Messick pitches to Junior Caminero P4

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P4

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P4

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P4

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 5 : Ball 3 P4

Pitch 6 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 7 : Strike 2 Foul P4

Pitch 8 : Ball In Play P4

Caminero grounded out to third. P4

Parker Messick pitches to Jonny DeLuca P4

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P4

DeLuca lined out to left. P4

End of the 4th inning P4

Top of the 5th inning P5

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Kyle Manzardo P5

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P5

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P5

Pitch 3 : Strike 3 Swinging P5

Manzardo struck out swinging. P5

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Austin Hedges P5

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P5

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P5

Pitch 3 : Strike 3 Swinging P5

Hedges struck out swinging. P5

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Petey Halpin P5

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P5

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P5

Halpin grounded out to second. P5

Middle of the 5th inning P5

Bottom of the 5th inning P5

Parker Messick pitches to Chandler Simpson P5

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P5

Simpson singled to left. P5

Parker Messick pitches to Ben Williamson P5

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P5

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P5

Simpson to second on wild pitch by Messick. P5

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P5

Williamson grounded out to second, Simpson to third. P5

Parker Messick pitches to Cedric Mullins P5

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P5

Mullins reached on bunt single to first, Simpson scored. P5

Parker Messick pitches to Nick Fortes P5

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P5

Fortes fouled out to first. P5

Parker Messick pitches to Richie Palacios P5

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P5

Palacios grounded out to second. P5

End of the 5th inning P5

Top of the 6th inning P6

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Steven Kwan P6

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P6

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P6

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P6

Kwan grounded out to second. P6

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Jose Ramirez P6

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P6

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Foul P6

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Swinging P6

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P6

Pitch 5 : Ball In Play P6

Ramírez flied out to center. P6

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Chase DeLauter P6

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P6

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P6

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P6

Pitch 4 : Ball 3 P6

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P6

Pitch 6 : Strike 3 Swinging P6

DeLauter struck out swinging. P6

Middle of the 6th inning P6

Bottom of the 6th inning P6

Parker Messick pitches to Yandy Diaz P6

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P6

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P6

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P6

Díaz grounded out to second. P6

Parker Messick pitches to Ryan Vilade P6

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P6

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P6

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P6

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P6

Pitch 5 : Ball 3 P6

Pitch 6 : Strike 3 Looking P6

Vilade struck out looking. P6

Parker Messick pitches to Junior Caminero P6

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P6

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P6

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P6

Caminero flied out to center. P6

End of the 6th inning P6

Top of the 7th inning P7

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Brayan Rocchio P7

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P7

Rocchio grounded out to first. P7

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Travis Bazzana P7

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P7

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P7

Pitch 3 : Strike 3 Swinging P7

Bazzana struck out swinging. P7

Drew Rasmussen pitches to Angel Martinez P7

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P7

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P7

Martínez grounded out to second. P7

Middle of the 7th inning P7

Bottom of the 7th inning P7

Parker Messick pitches to Jonny DeLuca P7

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P7

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P7

DeLuca grounded out to third. P7

Parker Messick pitches to Chandler Simpson P7

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P7

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P7

Simpson singled to center. P7

Parker Messick pitches to Ben Williamson P7

Pitch 1 : Ball In Play P7

Williamson singled to left, Simpson to second. Tampa Bay Rays challenged: call on the field was overturned. P7

Parker Messick pitches to Cedric Mullins P7

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P7

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Swinging P7

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P7

Pitch 4 : Strike 3 Swinging P7

Mullins struck out swinging. P7

Parker Messick pitches to Nick Fortes P7

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P7

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P7

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P7

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P7

Pitch 5 : Strike 3 Swinging P7

Fortes struck out swinging. P7

End of the 7th inning P7

Top of the 8th inning P8

Williamson at second base. P8

Fry hit for Manzardo P8

Walls at shortstop. P8

Cleavinger relieved Rasmussen P8

Garrett Cleavinger pitches to David Fry P8

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P8

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P8

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P8

Pitch 5 : Strike 3 Looking P8

Fry struck out looking. P8

Garrett Cleavinger pitches to Austin Hedges P8

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Foul P8

Pitch 2 : Ball In Play P8

Hedges popped out to second. P8

Hoskins hit for Halpin P8

Garrett Cleavinger pitches to Rhys Hoskins P8

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Swinging P8

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Foul P8

Pitch 4 : Ball In Play P8

Hoskins grounded out to shortstop. P8

Middle of the 8th inning P8

Bottom of the 8th inning P8

Kwan in center field. P8

Fry in left field. P8

Hoskins at first base. P8

Parker Messick pitches to Taylor Walls P8

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P8

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Bunted Foul P8

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P8

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P8

Pitch 6 : Strike 3 Swinging P8

Walls struck out swinging. P8

Parker Messick pitches to Yandy Diaz P8

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P8

Pitch 2 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 3 : Ball In Play P8

Díaz grounded out to pitcher. P8

Parker Messick pitches to Ryan Vilade P8

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 2 : Ball 2 P8

Pitch 3 : Strike 1 Swinging P8

Pitch 4 : Ball In Play P8

Vilade singled to left. P8

Holderman relieved Messick P8

Colin Holderman pitches to Junior Caminero P8

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P8

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P8

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Looking P8

Pitch 4 : Ball In Play P8

Caminero grounded out to shortstop. P8

End of the 8th inning P8

Top of the 9th inning P9

Baker relieved Cleavinger P9

Bryan Baker pitches to Steven Kwan P9

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P9

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Looking P9

Pitch 3 : Ball 2 P9

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 5 : Ball In Play P9

Kwan grounded out to second. P9

Bryan Baker pitches to Jose Ramirez P9

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P9

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P9

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 5 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 6 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 7 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 8 : Ball 2 P9

Pitch 9 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 10 : Ball 3 P9

Pitch 11 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 12 : Ball In Play P9

Ramírez lined out to center. P9

Bryan Baker pitches to Chase DeLauter P9

Pitch 1 : Strike 1 Looking P9

Pitch 2 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 3 : Ball 1 P9

Pitch 4 : Ball 2 P9

Pitch 5 : Ball 3 P9

Pitch 6 : Ball 4 P9

DeLauter walked. P9

Bryan Baker pitches to Brayan Rocchio P9

Pitch 1 : Ball 1 P9

Pitch 2 : Strike 1 Foul P9

Pitch 3 : Strike 2 Swinging P9

Pitch 4 : Strike 2 Foul P9

Pitch 5 : Strike 3 Swinging P9

Rocchio struck out swinging. P9