It’s been almost 2 days since it happened, and I’m still not over the gut-wrenching loss my beloved Cleveland Guardians suffered in game 2 of their ALDS series with the Detroit Tigers. Our All-Star closer and Cy Young candidate, Emmanuel Clase, inexplicably threw 3 straight sliders to the Tigers’ most clutch hitter, Kerry Carpenter. He took the third slider and launched it to Souvenir City for a game-winning 3-run home run.
That’s playoff baseball. The sun came up. The series is tied 1-1. It’s a good learning experience, and maybe next time our rookie catcher will call for Clase’s unhittable 101 mph heater instead of 3 sliders in a row.
Meanwhile in the Bronx, veteran All-Star catcher Salvador Perez helped his Royals even up their series with the heavily favored Yankees. It’s been 10 years since Perez led the Royals to a World Series title, and at age 34, the future Hall of Famer is still putting up big numbers — 27 home runs and 104 RBI — but his most impressive stat is one that doesn’t show up in the box score.
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