Three Keys for the Guardians in Game 3 against the Yankees
The Guardians trail 0-2 in the ALCS
The Guardians will play arguably their most important game all year on Thursday against the Yankees. Going down 0-3 in the series would likely be the end of the season. Here are three things they need to achieve in order to give themselves the best chance to win.
Get out to an early lead-
This one might seem obvious, but in both games of this series, the Yankees have scored early and forced the Guardians to play from behind. During this postseason, teams to score first have a record of 20-12, it is a big deal, and it’s an even bigger deal when you have the best bullpen in baseball. Being able to lead after 4 innings and then go to a combination of Sabrowksi/Walters/Herrin/Smith/Gaddis/Clase IS the formula for this team to win.
SOME length from Matthew Boyd-
We don’t need 6 shutout innings from Boyd, although that would be nice. We do however need more length than we’ve received from the first two starters. Alex Cobb was pulled after 2.2 innings pitched, and Tanner Bibee was knocked out of the game after recording just one out in the second inning. This team cannot afford another start like that if they want to win this series. 4-5 innings is really all we can ask for, and realistically, it’s all we need with the talent in this bullpen.
Capitalize on every opportunity-
This is by far the most important key to winning. In game 2, the Guardians went 0-7 with RISP, and left 11 on base. Getting the big clutch hit was something this team did well for most of the season, and it was a big reason why they were so good the first half of the season. They have really struggled doing that in this postseason, and is the main reason why they lost game 2. They created so many opportunities for themselves, and were never able to cash in on them. José Ramírez and Josh Naylor in particular HAVE to be able to come up big when it matters. If they continue to play how they’ve played so far in this postseason, the Guardians will not be able to win.