2022 MLB Playoffs: Timely home run, elite pitching the keys for Guardians vs. Rays

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

It was never going to be a high-scoring affair.

A chilly, cloudy afternoon in Cleveland with two aces named Shane on the mound was a tough assignment for the Tampa Bay Rays‘ and Cleveland Guardians‘ lineups from the first pitch Friday in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.

Despite the shared name, Rays lefty Shane McClanahan‘s and Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber’s operations couldn’t have been more different. McClanahan came at Cleveland’s hitters with pure power, unleashing fastballs up to 99 mph with a wicked array of secondary stuff. Bieber’s approach was more surgical, maxing out at 93 mph and carefully locating each offering in and around every part of the strike zone. It was a wonderful contrast of styles and a tremendous opening act for the caliber of lights-out pitching we’ll be watching all postseason.

The first five innings flew by in just over an hour — a pace difficult to fathom in 2022, especially for a postseason game — with minimal offense created from either side. The only ball hit with any sort of authority came off the bat of Jose Siri in the third inning, when he launched one to straightaway center field that ultimately landed harmlessly in the glove of Guardians center fielder Myles Straw. 

While the rapid pace of play might’ve felt unfamiliar for October, a much more recognizable postseason theme emerged in the sixth inning: Even if the pitching is masterful, a timely dinger can still make all the difference. That’s true even if the teams playing aren’t used to featuring a lot of power (Tampa Bay and Cleveland ranked 25th and 29th in MLB, respectively, in home runs during the regular season).

The Rays struck first in the top of the sixth, again courtesy of Siri, who sent a Bieber fastball the opposite way at 107.5 mph and over the right-center field fence for a 1-0 lead. 

Leave it to the Rays to have their 9-hole hitter produce two of the biggest swings of the game. 

Fortunately for Cleveland, their lineup features bona fide star power in the form of perennial MVP candidate José Ramírez. After striking out and grounding out weakly in his first two at-bats against McClanahan, the face of the Guardians franchise stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with Amed Rosario on first base. He watched two pitches go by before crushing a changeup — a pitch on which McClanahan rarely allows damage — to right field, a place where Ramírez has rarely hit homers from the right side of the plate.

Baseball isn’t basketball, in which you can frequently count on the best players to make the biggest impacts in the biggest games. Star baseball players simply don’t get the same number of opportunities the way LeBron James or Steph Curry can take 25 shots per game. But sometimes in the baseball postseason — particularly in close games such as this one — all it takes is one amazing player to do something amazing. 

Ramírez did just that.

Cleveland went up 2-1, and the Rays never countered. Bieber — who was simply marvelous all afternoon, besides the two pitches to Siri — was lifted with two outs in the eighth for Emmanuel Clase, the AL’s best reliever this season, who promptly recorded a four-out save to put Cleveland up 1-0 in this best-of-three.

Facing elimination, the Rays will turn to Tyler Glasnow in Game 2 to try to keep their season alive. On paper, there wouldn’t appear to be many pitchers you’d prefer with the season on the line, and everyone’s favorite Tommy Shelby doppelganger has looked every bit as nasty in two starts with the Rays since his return from Tommy John surgery. Still, an elimination game in his third big-league outing back from surgery is a lot to ask of anyone, no matter how talented. 

Cleveland, meanwhile, has the luxury of handing the ball to someone who has been excellent for 30 starts in ascendant right-hander Triston McKenzie, who will look to send the Guardians to the ALDS vs. the Yankees. 

With another two ace-level arms on the mound and the temperature at Progressive Field forecast to dip into the 40s on Saturday, I’d expect a similar style of ball game to Game 1 — just probably not one that lasts only 2 hours, 17 minutes.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.