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NEW YORK — The Guardians knew they’d have to walk a fine line against a dangerous lineup like the Yankees, but on Monday night, they learned just how thin the tight rope is.
It’s finding the perfect combination of pounding the strike zone just enough to force the New York hitters to make outs but not too much that it results in home runs. It’s avoiding catching too much of the plate without being too afraid to attack the hitter that results in one walk after the next.
It’s a difficult dance, but it’s one that Cleveland will have to figure out quickly to shift momentum back in its favor. A short start by Alex Cobb followed by four wild pitches by Joey Cantillo that allowed two runs led to the Guardians falling, 5-2, to the Yankees in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium.
In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to take the series 123 of 191 times (64%). In series under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have gone on to take the series 66 of 99 times (67%).
The Guardians worked around trouble in the first two innings, but in the third, they started to fall off that tight rope. Cobb started the inning by giving up a solo homer to Juan Soto. He then walked two of the next three batters he faced, prompting Cleveland to go to its bullpen.
When the rookie hurler Cantillo entered with the bases loaded and one out, he gave up a run on a wild pitch, walked a batter and then gave up another run on a wild pitch. It was just the second inning in postseason history with multiple run-scoring wild pitches, joining the Twins in 2002 against the Athletics, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Once Cantillo finally got out of the inning, he returned for the start of the fourth and recorded two more wild pitches and issued a walk before the Guardians called on Pedro Avila.
This team knew it would need to be careful against the top of the Yankees’ order. This is an offense that led all of Major League Baseball in homers (237) in the regular season. It’s such a threatening lineup that it also led the Majors in walks (672).
It’s the battle that every opponent has had to face when going head to head with the Yankees. The Guardians saw first hand just how hard it is to play catch-up after giving up too many free passes. In Game 2, Cleveland will have to try to find a way to get back in the strike zone without surrendering too many runs to be able to head back to Northeast Ohio with a win under its belt.