Guardians' Emmanuel Clase sounds off on what went wrong vs. Kerry Carpenter
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There wasn’t much to separate the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers for most of Game 2 of their ALDS clash. The Guardians could not have asked for much more than to give the ball to closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning while protecting a 0-0 score line to set up a potential walk-off run. However, Clase crumbled when his team needed him the most. After getting two quick outs, he proceeded to allow two consecutive hits and then a home run from Kerry Carpenter, and the Tigers took a 3-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
Clase has been one of the most excellent relievers in the entire MLB over the past four seasons; in fact, he ended the 2024 campaign with a must-be-seen to be believed 0.61 ERA. Thus, his meltdown against the Tigers is very uncharacteristic. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old reliever was very introspective of his faults as he analyzed what went wrong in the fateful top of the ninth inning that doomed the Guardians.
“I missed some pitches. I missed executing some pitches, and I feel that's the result in the game,” Clase told reporters postgame via team interpreter Agustin Rivero, per MLB.com.
As sterling of a track record as Clase may have in closing out ballgames for the Guardians, playoff baseball is simply a different beast. The Tigers have built a ton of momentum leading up to the ALDS, and Carpenter has been instrumental in getting Detroit to where they are now. Carpenter slashed .284/.345/.587 this past season with 18 home runs and 57 runs batted in, so it’s not as if Clase faced a slap hitter.
While Clase and the Guardians will be disappointed over how things transpired in Game 2, manager Stephen Vogt has full trust in the 26-year-old reliever especially considering what he’s done throughout his tenure in Cleveland.
“Emmanuel has been locked down all year. He’s been nearly perfect. He’s human, too. These things are going to happen, and it’s unfortunate the timing of when it did, but at the same time he’s going to have the ball in the ninth again. This is the best closer in the game for a reason, and they just happened to get him tonight,” Vogt said.
Guardians’ offense looks to get back on track
The Guardians wouldn’t have had to be in a precarious position heading into the top of the ninth inning had they put some runs on the board against the Tigers in Game 2. However, it’s difficult to blame Cleveland’s offense for being lifeless on Monday night. After all, they came up against the best remaining starting pitcher in the playoffs in Tarik Skubal, and Skubal, as per usual, was dominant, throwing seven shutout innings to give Detroit the momentum with the series heading to Comerica Park.
Thus, it should go without saying that the Guardians must take advantage of the non-Skubal games against the Tigers, starting with Game 3. It will be difficult for Cleveland to take both games in Detroit, but they must. Considering the schedule, Skubal is likely to start a potential Game 5, which might spell disaster for the Guardians.
The good news is that the Guardians’ offense was alive in Game 1, scoring seven runs. Meanwhile, their pitching has been rock-solid, allowing a total of zero runs to the Tigers for 17.2 consecutive innings to begin the ALDS. That bodes well for their chances of success, even with the series heading to the road.
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