Like Phils-Mets Game 1, Tigers-Guardians Game 2 was a ferocious pitching battle where it was so defined by two really unhittable starters, in this case Tarik Skubal and Matt Boyd [LOOK AT HIM GO!], that you knew the hit had to come some time, and it would still catch you off guard. For a while, Justyn Henry Malloy was the only Tigers hitter to get anything done today, and it was some amazing defensive work from the Guardians to keep the score low all game.
Which is why when Emmanuel Clase got up in the ninth, it felt like it was pointing towards a Cleveland victory. The Guardians' bullpen is better than Detroit's, and Clase doesn't give up many runs. And yet Kerry Carpenter blasted a three-run bomb off of him to blow the game open in the ninth. It took so long for anyone to get through the armor of Emmanuel Clase, and now somebody does in the playoffs. And now the Guardians are panicking. They've got to go to Detroit now, the series tied, and hope they can still get something done, even with the superior bullpen. There's a crack in it now, and they're hoping that's the extent of it.
Meanwhile, the Tigers proved that they still have some life in them, which could make the next 2 games very interesting.
Game 1 in the Bronx, the Yankees proved they could parry attacks. Game 2 proved that they also could forget to.
There were so many situations where the Yankees could have done something this game, and they just didn't. Judge and Soto were way quieter tonight. Rodon was strong enough but isn't perfect this year. And the Royals were able to keep pounding against us, with big moments from Salvador Perez, Tommy Pham, and utility man extraordinaire Garrett Hampson, who's been having a great postseason. Right now the Royals' starting pitching is looking more reliable than ours, and odds are we're getting Seth Lugo on Wednesday, which won't be much easier. If we have Clarke Schmidt and they have Lugo, and Lugo's been better recently...look, I'm not thrilled with our odds.
It'd be amazing if what happened Sunday happened again, and the Yanks caught fire like mad, but...I'm getting worried again. The last two days have given me this idea that the bye might still be a momentum-killer, and I'd love to be proven wrong.
Back to the NL series' tomorrow. We'll see who takes the next lead.
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