CLEVELAND – Unchallenged. Unshakeable. Unhittable for six months, Emmanuel Clase hasn't been close to being the same closer in October.
The Guardians haven't been able to count on him when it matters most.
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For the second straight night, the New York Yankees got to the All-Star in the late innings and have Cleveland on the edge of elimination following an 8-6 win 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 as the Guardians ripped a pair of two-run homers in their final two at-bats to stop from falling into a 3-0 series deficit.
Coming in from the bullpen to his customary music, Clase allowed three singles in the ninth — two of them softly hit — as the Yankees scored twice to break a 6-6 tie.
There wasn't a team all season that had much success against Clase. The Yankees overcame him twice in a little over 24 hours.
“Obviously he’s as good as it gets,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But I think when you have some success against him, and you know he’s throwing 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 do this against one of the game’s greats.”
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's been exposed further by the Yankees.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Friday afternoon he was unshaken 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. Anything outside of that, you don’t worry about it. He’s made two bad pitches.”
He made a few more bad ones in Game 4.
In six postseason appearances, Clase is 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA. He's got two saves but they both came against the Tigers, who don't have anything approaching the Yankees lineup.
Clase avoided reporters on Thursday but stood at his locker Friday to explain what went wrong.
He's not even sure.
“Yeah, I mean obviously a little surprising,” he said through an interpreter. “Obviously, I keep the confidence high and keep trusting what I can do. But it’s a little surprising that they’ve been able to get the result they got so far.”
Clase insists he's not been overworked by Vogt, who didn't think the 26-year-old has been as sharp.
“I felt like the ball was just leaking back over the middle,” he said. “Credit them. They’ve had a great approach off of him the last two days. That is what the Yankees do really well. They take a really good approach against your pitchers, and then they get pitches over the middle. They don’t miss them, and they really capitalized.”
Clase has led MLB's best bullpen this season, and if he gets another chance, the Guardians trust he'll 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 rough nights hasn’t shaken our faith in him at all.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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