Keys to ALCS Game Four: Try to Breathe!
This one is about the fans
Folks, I am officially out of words and breath and the overall ability to speak after last night. This team, this season: it’s beautiful.
David Fry has become a folk hero in one season, and has reinstated life and hope into the Guardians and us fans twice now this postseason. You’re going to remember where you were when Jhonkensy tied the game and how far the TV remote flew when Fry won it.
Shades of Francisco Lindor in 2017 danced in your heads when you fell asleep last night (or this morning). The result, we hope, will end just a little differently. Gavin Williams takes the bump for the first time in 25 days. He has been erratic all season long, but if there were ever a time to lock in, it’s right now.
Josh Naylor needs to show he belongs in this lineup. OPSing south of .500 just can’t work if he’s hitting fourth every game, and against Luis Gil, he needs to prove his worth as a young first baseman who sits behind him every day has elevated his game to create a winning top third of the lineup.
As for the bullpen: Clase just needs to reset. The Yankees are his boogeyman. Of every team in Major League Baseball that he’s faced at least seven times, the Yankees are the only team he had an ERA over 5.00 against. It’s time to shake back and get some redemption.
As for the fans, Cleveland, this is the time. Now more than ever, this team needs us. It’s still 2-1. The road ahead is still very long. This team has willed its way back from heartbreak and despair multiple times this month. It’s time we elevate our game to match theirs. Bring the noise, bring the towels, bring the love, bring the hope. From the preseason third place team to a dogfight in the ALCS with the Yankees, this team has defied all odds all season. Let’s give them the boost they need.