Guardians host Rays once more with October history hanging in the balance

Cleveland and Tampa Bay close out a run of three meetings in four days at Progressive Field, and the Guardians have taken two of the October dates so far. Cleveland edged Wednesday's game 3-2 after Tampa Bay answered 3-1 on Tuesday, following a 7-3 Cleveland outburst to open the series. These teams know each other well — and the all-time ledger leans toward the visitors.

Tampa Bay's edge includes taking all three July meetings, an 11-3 blowout plus back-to-back shutout wins, though Cleveland flipped the script in April and again this week. A W-L-W form line against L-W-L says these margins have been razor thin, and one swing or one inning could tilt it either way.