What started as a great week for the Guardians has ended on a rather sour note. However, while the series sits at 3-2 Tampa Bay, there have been plenty of positives from the two wins (so far!)
Williams the Winner
In four postseason games so far this year, Gavin Williams has gone 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 33 strikeouts. While the entire pitching staff has been at their best the past couple of weeks, Williams has been the star of the show. He’s confusing hitters, setting records, and providing his team an all but guaranteed
win each time he’s on the mound. While it would be great if he could just pitch in every game and keep the Rays’ bats silent, manager Stephen Vogt has already made it clear that Williams will not be pitching on short rest. He will be saved for game seven, so here’s hoping we get to that point and he is able to pitch again.
Halpin the Hero
The unexpected hero of the Guardians’ postseason so far has to be Petey Halpin. Going into the postseason, he had a .225 average with four home runs and 10 stolen bases. In just 15 at bats this postseason, he already has a home run and two RBIs. His home run in Thursday’s game three made all the difference, securing a 3-2 win to go up 2-1 in the series. While he wasn’t able to give the team a win on Saturday, he still did his part by making an unbelievable catch in center field to prevent Junior Caminero from hitting a double or potentially even a triple. He certainly wasn’t the one us fans expected to be the big contributor heading into this series, but I know at least I am very happy that he is.
Bailey the Big-Timer
After the Rays took an early 2-0 lead in game one, it felt like things were heading south fast. That was until the top of the seventh inning when catcher Patrick Bailey took a 90.4 mph first-pitch cutter from Drew Rasmussen into center field to tie the game. That kicked off a chain of scoring events by the trade deadline acquisitions to secure a 7-3 win to take an early 1-0 series lead. Bailey, alongside Nathaniel Lowe and Jo Adell, has been proving that the Guardians’ productive trade deadline was absolutely worth it.
