ST. PETERSBURG - Patrick Bailey’s 436-foot home run off Drew Rasmussen in the seventh inning cracked open a game the Tampa Bay Rays had controlled for six innings, and the Cleveland Guardians poured through the opening to take Game 1 of the American League Championship Series 7-3 Monday night at Tropicana Field.

The loss puts the Rays - the American League’s top seed coming off a 98-win season - immediately on the defensive in a series they entered as heavy favorites. Cleveland has now won four consecutive postseason games, having already become just the 11th team in MLB history to lose the first two games of a best-of-five series and come back to win it during their ALDS run.

Rasmussen was sharp through six innings, allowing only a Chase DeLauter opposite-field home run, and stood at 90 pitches when Tampa Bay sent him back to the mound for the seventh. Bailey made the Rays pay immediately, sending the first pitch he saw 436 feet to right-center - the longest home run of his MLB career - to tie the game. Nathaniel Lowe then delivered the decisive blow in the eighth, a two-run single up the middle that scored DeLauter and José Ramírez to put Cleveland ahead for good. A three-run Guardians ninth set the final margin.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt. “We got punched early. Our pitching staff, credit to them for stopping it and keeping us in the game as long as they did. The offense came alive. I thought we had great at-bats the whole game. Just couldn’t get that one hit with runners in scoring position. Hitting a couple balls out of the yard made it a new game.”

Ramírez, who was thrown out stealing second in the first inning, finished with three hits and an RBI. DeLauter, who watches every Ramírez at-bat from the on-deck circle, offered a simple assessment of his teammate. “Unbelievable player. Unbelievable player,” DeLauter said. “Hitting behind him all year has been amazing. Whether he’s feeling good or bad, he shows up every day and outworks everybody. He’s a special player.”

The Guardians’ bullpen was equally critical. Foster Griffin delivered four innings of two-run ball as the starter, and Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski each threw one inning of relief before Cade Smith closed out the ninth.

Rays infielder Junior Caminero opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and avoided serious injury after a collision with left fielder Jonny DeLuca later in the game. Caminero, speaking through interpreter Kevin Vera, was measured but confident after the loss. “We feel good moving forward,” he said. “We’ll wipe away today, and with this group, we always have our heads up. We never have our heads down. We know exactly who we are. We won 98 games for a reason. We won the division for a reason. So we’re going to keep going, leave this one behind and hopefully win tomorrow.”

Lowe, meanwhile, pointed to the Guardians’ ALDS comeback over the White Sox as evidence his club can handle hostile environments. “We can do it,” Lowe said. “We ran into a really hostile environment. I give all the credit to the Chicago fans. They made it as loud as they could. And there were some situations where this group definitely could have folded, but we didn’t.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash acknowledged the rust factor after his team’s first loss since Sept. 27. “It’s been a while since we lost,” Cash said, “so I think that’s a good thing, and I know the guys will come back and respond tomorrow.”

In best-of-seven postseason series, teams that take a 1-0 series lead have gone on to win 127 of 197 times, a 64% rate. In series using the current 2-3-2 format, road teams that steal Game 1 have won the series 41 of 73 times, or 56%. Game 2 is scheduled Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, with Games 3 through 5 set for Cleveland.