Opinion: Guardians Won't Panic After Carpenter, Tigers Land Gut Punch

The Cleveland Guardians held the Detroit Tigers scoreless for 17 consecutive innings to start the ALDS before Kerry Carpenter won Game 2 with an incredible home run.

Oct 7, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) reacts after giving up a three run home run during the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers during game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Now it’s a series.

Kerry Carpenter’s 3-run home run off Emmanuel Clase in the top of the ninth inning stunned the crowd at Progressive Field, sure. But it was also the series-evening, decisive blow in a classic Major League postseason game that had all the feel and emotion of an October nail-biter.

If I were to have told you before the series started that the Guardians would hold Detroit scoreless in 17 of the first 18 innings, I think you would have expected Cleveland to hold a 2-0 lead in the series.

But sometimes, that’s just how baseball goes.

Making the improbable happen is exactly how stars are defined in October.

In order to flip home field advantage, it took arguably the biggest hit in the last decade of Tigers baseball to back the brilliant effort of their likely-Cy Young Award winner. Carpenter is the first MLB player to hit a 2-out, 2-strike, go-ahead HR in the 9th inning of a postseason game since Kirk Gibson did it in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Tarik Skubal pitched like the ace he’s been all season and he gave the Tigers quite a spark on Tuesday afternoon. Backed by a couple of timely twin killers, Skubal danced his way out of a couple potential jams in the middle of the game before giving way to the Tiger bullpen. The Guardians twice put runners in scoring position, but couldn't scratch across something to show for their efforts.

Oh, I leave quite an impression

423 feet to be exact! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/yq6k6Fvss1

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2024

“I mean, he (Skubal) was outstanding,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said postgame. “He's the best pitcher in the American League starting-wise all year for a reason. Both his fastballs were moving a ton. He was hitting his spots, good sliders, good change-ups. He kept us off balance. He kept making pitches. And we didn't get much, if anything, to hit out over the plate. Naylor hit the double there. Rocchio got us going. Kwany (Steven Kwan) with a little single, and then we hit two really hard grounds balls right at them for double plays. Just the way it go sometimes.

“He's been the pitcher he is for a reason. We knew we had our work cut out for us, and he was special tonight.”

And yet for as much as Tuesday’s knockout punch sucked the spirit out of Cleveland fans, it doesn’t seem to have rattled the clubhouse.

Postseason baseball is an entirely different animal.

I was encouraged after Game 1 that the Guardians didn’t seem to be riding too high. A 5-run first inning and a shutout win on Saturday didn’t leave the team feeling invincible.

In that same light, the clubhouse on Tuesday didn’t seem shell-shocked by what they witnessed in the ninth inning. Disappointed to have lost the game, sure. But there wasn’t a sense of panic after dropping their first postseason game. And given how rare it was, you could understand why they would have been.

Clase had allowed only five earned runs all season, none of which came by a home run to a left-handed hitter. But with one vicious swing, Kerry Carpenter ignited a rocket that traveled 423 feet to right field, landing nearly in the standing room only area beyond nearly 20 rows of seats.

Oct 7, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) celebrates after hitting a three run home run during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Some fans have wondered if Vogt considered pulling Clase out of the game, given his pitch count, multiple-inning use and the fact that Jake Rogers and Trey Sweeney both hit hard singles off him.

Not even maybe.

“You’ve got the best pitcher in the world on the mound,” he said. “You're going to let him face any hitter. Again, Carpenter is a phenomenal hitter. He got a mistake slider, and he didn't miss it. Gotta tip your cap.”

In my opinion, the moment wasn’t too big for Vogt either. He managed a good game. I liked the timing of his pitching changes and his pinch hitting opportunities for Will Brennan and Kyle Manzardo. Sometimes the other team just makes a better play.

In the wake of Terry Francona’s stepping away from managing the Guardians and after missing the playoffs last fall, meaningful October baseball is exactly what Cleveland fans have hoped for. Tuesday’s loss stings and it proved that Clase is human after all. But that’s the beauty and the pain of the postseason play. Everything can change with just one swing.

And that’s exactly how the Guardians want it.