10/19/2026 09:05:00
Printable Page
10/18 21:34 CDT Guardians need 2 road wins to overcome deficit against Rays,
just like they did against White Sox
Guardians need 2 road wins to overcome deficit against Rays, just like they did
against White Sox
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) --- Stephen Vogt and his Cleveland Guardians are used to this
situation by now: needing two wins on the road to keep alive their season.
Cleveland faced a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series and
not a lot of time to rebound after Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
There is no travel day because of a rainout, and Game 6 is Monday night at
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"Let's go. We don't have another choice," Vogt said. "This is when this team
thrives."
Cleveland rallied in September for the second straight season to win the AL
Central. The Guardians were 60-65 and 5 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox
in the AL Central on Aug. 17 before winning eight of nine and then going 16-9
in September to win the division by one game.
The Guardians dropped the first two AL Division Series games at home to the
White Sox before winning the next two in Chicago and closing with a 2-0 win at
Progressive Field in Game 5.
"I think it'll help a ton knowing that we're able to do it, facing
elimination," said Steven Kwan, who had two of Cleveland's five hits and his
first career postseason outfield assist. "I think we feel a little better on
this one as opposed to the other ones since we've got some wins under our belt.
Just have to trust our plans, turn the page and see what happens tomorrow."
Kwan, who has 51 career outfield assists in the regular season, threw out
Taylor Walls trying to score from second base on Jonathan Aranda's
fourth-inning single to left and made a leaping catch at the center-field wall
on Victor Mesa Jr.'s eighth-inning drive, saving a run.
Teams trailing 3-2 after five games in the ALCS have come back to win only
seven of 23 times. The last two teams in that position accomplished the feat,
Texas in 2023 and Toronto last year.
Cleveland is 47-38 on the road in this year, including the postseason, and
43-44 at Progressive Field.
The biggest question is which pitcher will start Monday. Foster Griffin began
Game 1 but was the bulk reliever for Game 4 on Saturday, working 3 2/3 innings
and allowing one run and four hits.
Vogt ruled out right-hander Gavin Williams, who led the AL with 248 strikeouts
in the regular season. Williams started Game 3 on Thursday and allowed two runs
in five innings.
Cleveland's bullpen allowed only one run in seven innings after Parker Messick
struggled. A candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, Messick had the shortest
outing of his big league career and didn't make it past the third inning for
the second time in four postseason starts.
The 25-year-old left-hander allowed two runs, five hits and three walks over
two innings, throwing just 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.
Messick has pitched exactly 200 innings on the year, the first rookie to reach
that mark in a season since Kansas City's Yordano Ventura at 208 1/3 innings in
2014. The prior Cleveland rookie to toss at least 200 innings was Charles Nagy
with 211 1/3 innings in 1991.
"I feel great right now," Messick said. "Body feels good, arm feels good. I'm
still throwing hard. I don't really have any body fatigue. It's just whether or
not I'm executing the game plan."
___
See AP's full MLB coverage here
|
