ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series for the third time in franchise history after a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series Monday night at Tropicana Field, 18 years to the day after they punched their first World Series ticket on Oct. 19, 2008.

The Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers, who swept the back-to-back defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, with Game 1 scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. ET at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The Brewers, who joined MLB in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, have never won the World Series, and the Rays, who entered the league in 1998, are in the same position — guaranteeing a first-time champion.

“This group, they’ve been a complete joy to be around all season long. I know they’re very, very motivated,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I heard the line that we don’t have any Hall of Famers in that room right now — we might, but not yet. But I can assure you we have a lot of gamers, and we’re excited to get up there to Milwaukee.”

Caminero delivered the signature moment of the night, launching a two-run home run off the left-field foul pole in the seventh inning that sent Tropicana Field into a frenzy not heard since the Rays’ 2008 run. Stopping at first base, Caminero turned to his dugout before rounding the bases, then paused just short of home plate to point at former Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena, seated behind home plate, and the two struck Arozarena’s signature crossed-arms pose.

“I want to cry right now because I’ve put in a lot of work for this team, to support this city,” Caminero said. “My family out there, my wife, my mom, my father, my little brother, my daughter, Valentina. I’m very happy. This is for the Dominican Republic, right here.”

Richie Palacios ignited the offense in the second inning with a two-run double into the right-center gap, a moment made more remarkable given that left-handed pitchers held him to a .158 average and .478 OPS in 2026. Yandy Díaz added a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the eighth, drawing chants of “Yandy! Yandy! Yandy!” from the crowd and a curtain call from the dugout.

“It feels like I’m on top of the world,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Hopefully this time around, it’s for us to win.”

Freddy Peralta was dominant on the mound, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball after posting six shutout innings in his Game 2 victory. Cleveland countered with a bullpen game led by Shawn Armstrong but could not generate sustained offense against a Rays pitching staff built to neutralize streaks.

“This is unbelievable,” Peralta said. “I think I have to see it when I go home tonight and start thinking about it, because I am still in shock. I don’t believe it.”

Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan offered a candid assessment of the series. “It’s a great baseball team. Great baseball teams win big games,” Kwan said. “They played defense better than us, they hit better than us, they pitched better than us. We didn’t beat ourselves, we got beat. As a competitor, you can live with that. I’m disappointed, but that’s a great team over there.”

The Rays’ previous World Series appearance came in 2020, played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, with only a quarter of the stadium filled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Cash noted the difference a full house makes.

“2020 was as special as any season I’ve been a part of,” Cash said. “But saying that, we didn’t have 40,000 people behind us. I’m excited to see what those 40,000 people can bring on Games 3, 4 and 5, for sure. I thought the ALDS crowd, Game 1, was the best crowd I’ve ever heard. This crowd tonight, they might have been a little bit better.”

The Brewers enter the series having been off since their NLCS clinch on Oct. 15, giving them eight days of rest before Game 1 Friday night.