Guardians Will Come Alive In Return To Cleveland

Yankees vs. Guardians, 5:08 ET

Yankees vs. Guardians, 5:08 ET

I really can’t stress it enough – these MLB playoffs are so good this season. You wouldn’t think that with some of the lopsided scores, but the heightened intensity of every pitch usually justifies the excitement. Overall, baseball has been an easier watch in recent years due to the pitch clock and some of the other changes that they implemented recently. I think we will get a good one tonight here as the Yankees take on the Guardians in Game 3 of the ALCS.

If you are the Yankees, you probably need to feel pretty good about yourselves right now. You’re up 2-0 in the ALCS, you took care of business at home. In the series, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, and now Aaron Judge have all left the yard. Your pitching staff has only allowed five runs in the two games and you can take a commanding lead in the series tonight. What needs to go right for the Yankees in this one? Well, the team needs to keep hitting. They haven’t been some sort of juggernaut in the playoffs, but they are getting the runs they need and their pitching is doing enough to keep the opponent at bay. At home, they’ve scored five or more runs in three of their four games. In the two road games, both wins, they only scored three runs in each game. It isn’t a knock, but I am a little concerned that their hitting will not be quite as crisp and despite what I’ve seen from them in the playoffs so far, I don’t want to count on home runs to save the day. They are sending out Clarke Schmidt to the hill tonight in hopes of getting that third victory for the team. He made one start for the Yankees this postseason, against the Royals, and allowed two earned runs on four hits over 4.2 innings. This should be a decent spot for him as he has faced Cleveland in Cleveland earlier this season, going five innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits. 

New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt warms up against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)

The Guardians simply can’t go down 3-0. While it isn’t technically a must-win game, this is as close to it as they come. Sure, the Red Sox famously defeated the Yankees years ago after going down 3-0, but no one wants to be in that situation. The Guardians haven’t looked great in the two games against the Yankees, significantly struggling to get offense going against their pitching staff. In the two games they’ve played they’ve scored a combined five runs and haven’t had a lead. Game 2 was a bit better for Cleveland considering they had eight hits, but they were sloppy in other areas, allowing a run to score in the first on an error. Their pitching is also not giving them much help here, allowing 11 runs in the first two games. One bright spot for the Guardians is that they will have the home-field advantage for the next three games. Cleveland was 20 games over .500 at home this season, playing their best baseball there. They did lose one game to the Tigers at home so far in the playoffs. Matthew Boyd is who the Guardians turn their hope to tonight. Boyd is making his third start in the postseason. He’s only tallied 6.2 innings, all against the Tigers, but he hasn’t allowed a run. He has allowed five hits and three walks while striking out ten hitters. He did face the Yankees in August, going 5.1 innings and allowing three earned runs, including two homers. 

The Guardians at home have been a pretty solid bet most of this season. The problem is the Yankees are 19 games above .500 on the road this year, so it isn’t like they are going to be scared of playing on the road. I do think the Guardians get a boost on offense with the home-field advantage, especially if Boyd can throw a couple of scoreless innings to start the game and allow Cleveland to settle in. I’ll take the Guardians to win this one at +102. I think they can make this a series.

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