*Photo from the New York Daily News*
Cleveland wins series 2-0
Oscar Gonzalez came to the plate and figured this game had gone on long enough. Jose Ramirez made a big defensive play, Gonzalez delivered the walk off, and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays with a 1-0 victory in extra innings on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland.
Entering this series, everyone had an idea that both teams were based on pitching and defense, that the offense was the weak link on both sides. It seemingly took a vacation this series, with only 4 runs being scored across both games, and only one run on Saturday.
In fact, the offense was so non-existent they set records on Saturday. This was the first game in MLB playoff history to be scoreless after 13 innings, thus being the longest postseason game to be scoreless in MLB history. Gonzalez's walk off homer marked just the second postseason walk off homer in Cleveland history, joining Tony Pena in game one of the 1995 ALDS against the Boston Red Sox.
Gonzalez said of his homer that "During the at-bat, I was looking for a breaking pitch. I know myself and I know I can't react to the fastball, so I was just trying to get myself in a better position for the breaking pitch. Yeah, right away I knew it was a good connection. And also the angle that the ball was going, I knew it was going to be a home run."
With the first 14 innings going scoreless, Gonzalez decided that enough was enough in inning number 15. On a 1-0 count, Gonzalez took the pitch and drove it deep into the left field seats, winning the game and the series for the Guardians with his solo home run.
The series win for the Guardians marks their first series win since the 2016 postseason, when they made it all the way to the world series. They had lost in the ALDS in both 2017 and 2018, and were quick exits in the 2020 wild card round. Now, they're moving on to the ALDS as baseball's youngest team.
Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said of Gonzalez that "If you look up his numbers in the Minor Leagues, he’s doing what he’s done his entire career. The game doesn't change for him. Oscar is the perfect example of a guy who just goes out and he is Oscar every game. When he does stuff like that, no one’s surprised."
It was Triston McKenzie starting for the Guardians, pitching 6 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts. Sam Hentges got the win with 3 shutout innings at the end of the game. James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Emmanuel Clase, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan, and Enyel De Los Santos all saw action out of the bullpen.
Tyler Glasnow took the mound as the Rays starter, working 5 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts. Corey Kluber pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing the walk off to Gonzalez. Pete Fairbanks, Jason Adam, Drew Rasmussen, Garrett Cleavinger, Shawn Armstrong, and Brooks Raley also pitched.
The loss for the Rays sees their season end in quite disappointing fashion. They were stumbling entering the playoffs, having lost 5 games in a row. They then only scored once in two games, losing 7 straight in total to end their season. They were the last team in the AL according to seeding.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game that "This two-game series, you saw about as good a pitching as you're going to see. On the other side, I'll speak for our club: We're capable of more. We just couldn't get it going. Got to move the baseball. I mean, that's telling that we just weren't able to do that."
Up next, the Guardians have a matchup with the New York Yankees in the ALDS, with game one taking place on Tuesday night in the Bronx. The Rays season is over, with the next step being the offseason for them.
Comments
Post a Comment