CLEVELAND — Emmanuel Clase’s remarkable season has taken a hit. The Cleveland All-Star closer, who has dominated the league for the past six months, surrendered a three-run homer to Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter with two outs in the ninth inning, leading to the Tigers’ unexpected 3-0 victory over the Guardians in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt stood firmly by his choice to bring Clase into a high-pressure situation. He expressed confidence in his decision, stating he would do it again without hesitation.
“We wanted to get our best pitcher on the mound in that moment,” Vogt said. “He’s been the best pitcher in baseball all year, and with the game on the line, we wanted to put him in there. He has pitched multiple innings for us several times this year.”
However, this time Clase fell short. After getting ahead in the count against Carpenter, the catcher Bo Naylor requested the next pitch to be in the dirt, but Clase’s delivery missed the target, allowing Carpenter to send the ball out of the park.
“Emmanuel has been fantastic for us, and everything was going smoothly until Carpenter hit that slider,” Vogt noted. “When you have the best pitcher in the world on the mound, you want him to face any hitter. Carpenter is an excellent hitter who capitalized on a mistake.”
Clase’s season saw him achieve a franchise-record 47 saves, surpassing Cody Allen for the club’s career record and ending the regular season with a remarkable 0.61 ERA, marking the lowest in the team’s history. He had been nearly flawless, not having blown a save since May, and had thrown eight scoreless innings in the postseason prior to Carpenter’s homer.
The 26-year-old pitcher took responsibility, acknowledging that he failed to execute the game plan. “I just didn’t execute it, and that cost us the game,” he said through an interpreter.
For Vogt, this loss was rare, as he typically concludes games by shaking hands with Clase. Instead, this time he had to take the ball from him.
“Emmanuel has been dominant all year. He’s been nearly perfect. He is still human, and unfortunate things like this can happen. However, he will be back on the mound in the ninth inning again. He is the best closer in the game for a reason, and tonight they just happened to get to him.”