ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Add another year to the championship drought.
The Cleveland Guardians again got close to the finish line but came up short in the American League Championship Series, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays in six games after a 7-3 defeat Monday night.
The Rays won the final three games to advance to the World Series, and Cleveland fell short of winning it all for the 78th consecutive year.
"I'm 0-for-28," president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said with a half-smile. "Next year I want to make it 1-for-29. The goal is to win a World Series. We have yet to accomplish that, but we'll keep knocking on the door and find a way to make it happen."
Antonetti joined the Guardians' front office in 1999 long before any current players were on the team. His mix of veterans acquired at the trade deadline along with young players such as Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana -- and next to mainstays Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan -- couldn't overcome the Rays at the plate or on the mound. Cleveland just seemed to run out of gas.
"It hurts," catcher Austin Hedges said. "I felt like this was a group that could win the World Series."
The Guardians hit just .194 with runners in scoring position while essentially using only two starting pitchers -- Parker Messick and Gavin Williams. The former got through five innings only once in the playoffs, and the latter was being saved for a potential Game 7. Left-hander Foster Griffin got some bulk innings during the ALCS but needed an opener in both of his appearances.
Meanwhile, right-hander Tanner Bibee never got into an LCS game after a poor September. After making 33 starts in the regular season, he pitched just one-third of an inning in the playoffs.
"It sucks but at the same time I trust what they're thinking," Bibee said in a dejected locker room. "The majority of my season was good and then one really bad month."
Bibee vowed to be better and more consistent next season, saying that he signed an extension with the team in part because "fans deserved a championship."
Messick said he didn't think he ran out of gas but acknowledged there were ways he also could be better.
The team relied heavily on its bullpen, which also might have worn thin. Closer Cade Smith was untouchable to start the postseason, but the Rays got to him for two runs Monday, when third baseman Junior Caminero took him deep in the seventh inning to make it a 5-1 game.
Caminero took 38.7 seconds to round the bases -- a long time by any standard -- while celebrating demonstratively the whole way around.
"It's not my style, but I guess if I don't like it, I shouldn't give up home runs," Smith said.
As for their offense, the Guardians gave credit to the Rays pitchers, especially ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta. He covered 12 innings in the series, giving up only one run.
"They pitched lights out, especially in those big spots," DeLauter said. "That's the name of the game."
Designated hitter Jo Adell added: "I give credit when credit is due. They did a phenomenal job throwing the baseball. We came up short."
It's the third straight year and fourth in the past five that the Guardians failed to get past the ALCS. They've had seven tries in the postseason to reach the World Series since their last appearance in 2016. They've fallen short each time.
"We won another division," Hedges said. "That's really cool. We won a playoff series. That's really cool. Making it to the final four is really cool. But I'm sure all those positives will enter my brain tomorrow. Right now, this one really hurts."
Hedges said he was hopeful Monday wasn't the last time he would don a Guardians uniform even though he'll become a free agent next month. Cleveland doesn't have many of them, meaning the roster could look similar in 2027 -- giving the team yet another chance to break one of the longest championship droughts in professional sports.
"We're going to continue to work and get better and we're going to win the World Series one day," fan favorite Brayan Rocchio said, summing up the feeling in the locker room.
"I couldn't be more proud of our group," manager Stephen Vogt said. "It just hurts. It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go [to the World Series] and just weren't able to get there."
