Late meltdown by Rays at home leaves them with 7-3 loss to Guardians in Game 1 of ALCS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — For six innings, the Tampa Bay Rays were in complete control again.Then they unraveled in a hurry.Drew Rasmussen squandered a two-run lead on the mound, Tampa Bay's bullpen let the game get away and the Rays stumbled to a 7-3 loss against the Cleveland Guardians in their American League Championship Series opener Monday night.Staked to a 2-0 advantage, Rasmussen gave up a leadoff homer to rookie Chase DeLauter in the sixth inning but retired the next three batters.With two relievers ready and the bottom of the Guardians order due up, manager Kevin Cash sent out Rasmussen for the seventh. His first pitch was launched 436 feet to center field by light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey for a tying home run.“Cashy checked in with me and I told him I was good,” said Rasmussen, who had permitted just one run over 27 2/3 innings until DeLauter connected. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t unfold the way we wanted.”Nothing went right for the Rays after that.José Ramírez re