CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – One swing made the difference in Game 2 of the ALDS. A scoreless game was turned upside down on a two-out, 2-2 pitch in the ninth inning.
An Emmanuel Clase slider down the middle to Kerry Carpenter was all it took for the Tigers to even the playoff series. Carpenter drilled a three-run homer in the ninth 423 feet to the right field bleachers– the only three runs scored in the game.
“The plan was to execute it down in the dirt where the catcher was calling for,” Clase said. “I just didn’t execute it and that was what cost us the game.”
“Just left it up a little bit,” Bo Naylor said. “Ideally it would’ve been in the dirt. If he swings over it, we get the result we want.”
Clase has had the best season by a relief pitcher in Cleveland’s franchise history. It was only the third homer he’s allowed this year, and it was the first three-run homer he’s given up in his major league career.
“This is the best closer in the game for a reason, and they just happened to get him tonight,” manager Stephen Vogt said.
“We’re talking about one of the greatest seasons of all time,” Austin Hedges said. “Guys don’t even get on-base on him, but that’s a good team over there. They had a good game plan against him.”
Tigers starter Tarik Skubal pitched a perfect game and struck out eight batters through the first four innings.
Josh Naylor broke up Skubal’s perfect game with a one-out double in the fifth inning. Cleveland hit into inning-ending double plays both times they had runners in scoring position against Skubal.
“You love it, that’s what you want,” Matthew Boyd said. “That guy is the best pitcher on the planet right now, and he should be getting the award at the end of the year for it. You want those big moments and that’s what postseason baseball is all about.”
The frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award finished with eight strikeouts across seven innings pitched. Skubal has been sensational this postseason, having thrown 13 scoreless innings in two starts.
“It’s tough to lose any playoff game,” Hedges said. “We love the playoffs. It doesn’t matter if you’re up or down, you feel like you’re up in every ballgame. Today was just one of those back-and-forth pitcher duels. Both teams were one swing away, and they got the better end of us today.”
“He's the best pitcher in the American League starting-wise all year for a reason,” Vogt said about Skubal. “He's been the pitcher he is for a reason. We knew we had our work cut out for us, and he was special tonight.”
The other side of the pitching duel was Matthew Boyd who pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in his first career start against his former team. The southpaw’s day was over after allowing his fourth hit of the game to Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Malloy hit a single to right field but was thrown out trying to reach second base by Jhonkensy Noel. “Big Christmas” is known for his strength at the plate, but the cannon was on full display as Brayan Rocchio tagged out Detroit’s leadoff hitter.
“I just went to get after the ball,” Noel said. “I told the guys I was trying to replicate Kwan’s turn. I just grabbed it and turned it as quickly as I could and that was the result. I take a lot of pride in my defense.”
“I missed my spot there on that pitch,” Boyd said. “Immediately turn around and see him make that play and that amazing throw, it was awesome.”
That wasn’t the only defensive gem made by Cleveland. Steven Kwan recorded the final out of the eighth inning. The two-time Gold Glove Award winner made an incredible diving catch to rob Wenceel Perez of an RBI knock.
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“It’s one of those situations with two outs, you know what’s at stake, you kind of just have to leave your feet and try to make the catch,” Kwan said. “I thought I caught it, but when you see it on the video, definitely looks like there could be some different opinions.”
“I’m not surprised by that by Kwan,” Clase said. “I know he’s capable of doing those types of plays.”
Boyd struck out five batters in his 72 pitches thrown. He also walked two batters and worked with runners on base in every inning. The 10-year MLB veteran was clutch in his first career postseason start.
“That was really fun to watch Matthew go out there,” Vogt said. “He should be really proud of himself to come in, two-thirds of the way through the year, give us a ton of quality starts in the regular season, and then give us that outing today. He's done a phenomenal job for us and did it again today.”
Cade Smith followed Boyd and the rookie looked sharp once again. Smith threw 1.2 hitless innings of relief with two strikeouts. With a strikeout to begin his outing, Smith became the first Cleveland pitcher to strike out the first five batters they faced in their postseason career.
“Our bullpen has been who we are all year, and Cade's been a big part of that as well,” Vogt said. “He does everything we ask of him. His work ethic is second to none, and his stuff is great. To have a weapon like that is huge.”
The ALDS shifts to Detroit for Games 3 and 4. Alex Cobb will make his first postseason start since 2013 in Game 3. Cobb has only made three starts this season since being acquired at the trade deadline.
“I think there's probably nobody in these playoffs that appreciates it more than I do after being away from being in this for so long,” Cobb said. “I was kind of living and dying on every single pitch of those two sim games to give them the confidence that I was ready.”
Cobb has served two stints on the injured list, and his last start was on September 2nd. He’s 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in his three starts with Cleveland this year.
The Guardians need to win two of the three remaining games against the Tigers in the ALDS to keep their season alive. Cleveland last advanced to the ALCS in 2016. First pitch in Game 3 is scheduled for 3:08pm on Wednesday.
“Tip the cap to both sides,” Vogt said. “Everybody threw the ball well tonight. Like I said, it was a really fun game. It was exciting. We just happened to be on the losing end, and we're ready to get back after it on Wednesday.”