Tarik Skubal Proved He's The Cy Young Over 7 Scoreless Innings And Emmanuel Clase Proved He's Not With One Pitch That Landed In Lake Erie
In hindsight, it turns out that I....and the rest of Cleveland...did not in fact want Tarik Skubal. Would've been a cool video as long as he didn't come out in Game 2 and quite literally shove the baseball down our throats for 7 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts though, right? But unfortunately he was flat out dominate from the time he trotted onto the diamond at Progressive Field to a showering of boos....all the way through walking off the field and telling the Guardians fans to "shut the fuck up" in a rather unfriendly manner.
But listen, the guy deserves to do whatever he wants. If you're going to talk the talk, you've gotta be able to walk the walk. And he did that and then some in Game 2. However on the other side of Cleveland's apparently mythical Cy Young Race, we sure did a whole lot of talking about Emmanuel Clase and his MLB best 0.61 ERA and 47 saves, only for THIS to be how his 3rd straight Slider in the biggest at-bat of the season landed.....
Perhaps….actually fuck it, not perhaps. Undoubtedly the most life-sucking play I've ever experienced live. The atmosphere in Cleveland was electric. Matthew Boyd did his fucking job and then some, holding his former Tigers team scoreless over 4 and 2/3. Then our bullpen did what our bullpen does: shuts down everyone. Cade Smith for his 1 and 2/3 of hitless/scoreless baseball. Tyler Herrin for 2/3 of an inning. Hunter Gaddis for 2/3 and….well, looking back it appears to be a bad managerial move by Stephen Vogt but we want to our best pitcher and the best reliever in baseball, Emmanuel Clase, in the Top of the 8th. He got out of the jam, but then got roughed up in the 9th until there was 2 on, 2 out, 2-2 count, and……..fuck.
And just like that, the entire sold out crowd in Cleveland all collectively lost their voice. According to my good friend Jeff Passan, Clase had allowed five earned runs in six months during the regular season. He allowed three earned runs on this one pitch. And with a 110 mph exit veto, it was the hardest hit ball he's given up in his entire career. And his very first 3-run homer of his career given up, too. I do want to be on record that I did a little pregame show and I asked the former Guardians pitcher, hey, did you like using Clase in a 7-0 blowout in Game 1? Don't get me wrong, get the man work, but why flex the muscles and show them what he's got just before we're going to need him again? He saw my point, but said it was better to beat them while they're down and show them they can't hit him….effectively getting them not to believe. Well boys, they fucking believe now. And not only is the series going back 1-1, they have zero fear if Emmanuel Clase walks in from the bullpen anymore.
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Look, I was wrong. Skubal is a Hoss. Clase, who I would still go to battle with at any time, can settle for reliever of the year. But as for the pulse of Cleveland right now, it's a bunch of mixed emotions. Is the series over? Absolutely not. It's now a best of three, with two in Detroit, against a team that I do think we're better than. Just gotta take one there, just like they took one here. However the elephant in the room is that if we do happen to take one there and force the series to come back to Cleveland for the elimination Game 5…..we gotta see this mother fucker again.
Don't get me wrong: he's not the second coming of Jesus Christ or anything. We had a few opportunities to score on him, but he's a certified dawg no doubt. Our pitching had to be PERFECT all day to even keep pace with him….and it was….for 8 and 2/3 innings. And the sad, sad Cleveland ending took away the memory of two of the greatest defensive plays I've ever seen….
Fuck. Tough day for the ol' Ohio boys. But that's playoff baseball, folks. We pack up and we move on to Game 3. Side note: looking ahead, there's a real possibility (unless the Royals/Yankees goes 5 games) that a Guardians elimination Game 5 would be at the same time as the Ohio State / Oregon kickoff. Could be the best day….or the worst day….in Ohio sports history. And Skubal will be on the mound…