ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays punched their ticket to the World Series for the third time in franchise history Monday night, defeating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series before a sold-out crowd of 40,230 at Tropicana Field.

Manager Kevin Cash gathered the team in the clubhouse after the final out, holding up one finger and delivering a message that captured the moment. “We’ve got one more bite! We’ve got one more bite!” Cash said. “I think we’ve got a flight to Milwaukee!”

The Rays, who spent nearly the entire season atop the AL standings and were the first team to clinch a playoff spot, rallied from a 2-1 series deficit at Progressive Field to win three straight and reach the Fall Classic for the first time since the pandemic-affected 2020 postseason, when they clinched at Petco Park in San Diego.

All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero dropped to his knees when the game ended, then grabbed a giant Rays flag and sprinted toward the stands. “Tampa! This is for you!” Caminero shouted into a microphone, echoing a rallying cry he first used after hitting a walk-off home run to clinch the Rays’ playoff berth. “Sky’s the limit,” he added.

President of baseball operations Erik Neander framed the night as more than a pennant. “A team like this, a night like this, it just shows what’s possible here, what baseball can be, and to have some finality about a new stadium, what’s ahead,” Neander said. “There’s so much momentum. There’s so much excitement about four more wins, but just everything that’s ahead for this franchise, this community, the fans of this team — and we’ve got plenty of room for more.”

Managing partner Patrick Zalupski, whose ownership group assumed control of the club roughly 13 months ago, pushed back on longstanding criticism of the Tampa Bay fan base. “Our fans were unbelievable tonight. I mean, this narrative that Tampa Bay fans don’t show up is total nonsense,” Zalupski said. “It was as loud in there tonight as I’ve ever heard for a baseball game in my entire life.”

Cash said he expects the noise level to carry into the World Series. “Excited to see what those 40,000 people can bring on Games 3, 4 and 5, for sure,” he said. “This crowd tonight, they might have been a little bit better.”

The Rays will host Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series at Tropicana Field next week.