The Cleveland Guardians had the best bullpen in baseball this season, with a 2.57 ERA that was more than half a run better than the second-placed Milwaukee Brewers (3.11).
The unit is historically deep and talented, good enough to take over a game and completely shut down any offense.
The Guardians are not only capable of leveraging their bullpen into dramatically increasing their win probability: they are also willing to do it.
Game 1 of their American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers was a perfect example of this.
Of course, manager Stephen Vogt took advantage of his well-rested bullpen to throw the unit right at the Tigers in the fifth inning when he detected his starting Tanner Bibee potentially running into problems.
The results were excellent.
Just another chapter in this bullpen's story. 🔒#ForTheLand | #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/SmCxcrjDId
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 5, 2024
Cade Smith took over in the fifth inning with two outs.
He got four outs (1.1 innings), all via the strikeout.
Tim Herrin took the ball in the seventh and delivered one scoreless frame.
Hunter Gaddis solved the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase took care of the ninth in a non-save situation.
The final results? 4.1 innings of work, no hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
That’ll do.
The Tigers will have a hard time beating the Guardians if they can’t touch their bullpen.
It’s important that they at least do damage on the Guards’ rotation and limit their bats.
Monday represents the Tigers’ best chance of winning, since they are sending triple crown winner Tarik Skubal to the mound.
Even if the southpaw tosses eight scoreless, they need to score runs to beat Cleveland.
NEXT: Guardians Injured Ace Keeps Finding Ways To Help The Team
