Cleveland Guardians: The Surprising Comeback That Ended in Disappointment
The Cleveland Guardians, after staging the biggest comeback in MLB history, clinched the American League Central Division title. Despite being 15.5 games behind Detroit in early July and 11 games behind in September, their playoff run was abruptly cut short. Dillon Dingler, with a solo home run in the sixth inning, propelled the Tigers to score five consecutive runs, defeating Cleveland 6-3 in the decisive Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series.A year after eliminating Detroit in the American League Division Series and advancing to the American League Championship Series, the Guardians’ postseason ended in the first round. The team hasn’t won the World Series since 1948.I will remember the good moments of the year, not what happened today. But you have to remember this feeling, because you don’t want to feel like this again.
Steven Kwan
With an overall record of 88-74 and an impressive 20-7 in September, Cleveland secured home-field advantage for every Wild Card Series game. However, their offense underperformed, batting an average of .226 in the regular season. In the series, the Guardians batted .178 and only managed 16 hits, scoring five runs. Brayan Rocchio and Bo Naylor hit home runs in the eighth inning of Game 2, equaling the combined run total of the other 26 innings.It’s going to hurt a lot, but I think we can get better. You always feel bad after this, but you have to keep your head up and work harder for next season.
José Ramírez
Ramírez, Kwan, Rocchio, George Valera, and Gabriel Arias led the Guardians with two hits each, while Naylor was the only player with multiple RBIs, all on his home run. Valera (.286) and Ramírez (.250) were the only ones with averages above .222. The Cleveland front office, desperately seeking production, promoted Chase DeLauter from Triple-A Columbus. DeLauter went 1-6 with an error in center field. Ramirez, who has played his entire 13-year career in Cleveland, was asked if the team needed to add veteran hitters in the offseason.We can be nitpicky and talk about little things here and there, but at the end of the day, we just need to execute in all areas of the game.
Stephen Vogt
The Guardians’ bullpen also struggled in the final game. Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning, allowing Detroit to extend its lead to 6-1 in the seventh. Along with Cade Smith, they pitched in all three games in high-pressure situations. Their workload was a residual effect of the loss of Emmanuel Clase, due to an MLB sports betting investigation. Smith, who took on the role of Class, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason and was the winner in Game 2. However, he hit two batters and walked two.You’ll have to ask the front office. Ask (team president Chris) Antonetti because I’m only here to make us better.
José Ramírez
We didn’t have a guy throw three days in a row, but they did. At some point, you just get caught up in the intensity of the pitching and the magnitude of the moment. And we capitalized.
A.J. Hinch
