CLEVELAND (AP) — Undisputed. Unwavering. Emmanuel Clase is undefeated in six months and hasn’t been near the same closer in October.
The Guardians haven’t been able to count on him when it matters most.
For the second night in a row, the New York Yankees reached the All-Star in the late innings and have Cleveland on the brink of elimination after an 8-6 victory on Friday night in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.
Clase gave up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning of Game 3, but was saved by his teammates when the Guardians ripped a pair of two-run homers in their final two at-bats to avoid falling into a 3-0 series ended up. shortage.
Coming in from the bullpen to his usual music, Clase allowed three singles in the ninth – two of them softly hit – as the Yankees scored twice to break a 6–6 tie.
No team had much success against Clase all season. The Yankees beat him twice in just over 24 hours.
“Obviously he’s as good as it gets,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But I think if you have some success against him, and you know he throws a lot, like a lot of our guys, a lot of their guys have thrown in the postseason, I think there’s probably a little bit of confidence that we can be able to.” do this against one of the greats of the game.
Clase led the AL with 47 saves and a 0.61 ERA and converted 34 consecutive saves to end the regular season. He gave up just five earned runs.
But Cleveland’s career saves leader showed vulnerability when he allowed a three-run homer to Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter in a 3-0 loss in the Division Series. He was further exposed by the Yankees.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Friday afternoon that he wasn’t shocked by Game 3 and wasn’t afraid to give the ball to Clase again.
“He’s the best closer in the world,” Vogt said. “He’s hung two sliders this postseason. That’s what’s true. Everything outside of that, you don’t worry about that. He made two bad throws.”
He made a few more bad ones in Game 4.
In six postseason appearances, Clase is 0-2 with an ERA of 10.29. He has two saves, but they both came against the Tigers, who have nothing close to the Yankees’ lineup.
Clase avoided reporters Thursday, but stood at his locker Friday to explain what went wrong.
He’s not even sure.
“Yes, of course I mean a bit surprising,” he said through an interpreter. “Of course I keep the confidence high and continue to rely on what I can do. But it is a bit surprising that they have been able to achieve the result so far.”
Clase insists he was not overworked by Vogt, who felt the 26-year-old was not as sharp.
“I felt like the ball just leaked back over the middle,” he said. “Credit them. They’ve had a great approach to him the last two days. That’s what the Yankees do very well. They approach your pitchers really well, and then they get pitches over the middle. They don’t miss them, and they really benefited.”
Clase has led the MLB’s best bullpen this season and if he gets another chance, the Guardians are confident he will come through.
“He knows that everyone in this bullpen and in this clubhouse believes in him,” said rookie right-hander Cade Smith, who gave up Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run homer in the sixth. “Two tough nights haven’t shaken our faith in him, not at all.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
tuive s
Tom Withers, The Associated Press
