The Cleveland Guardians’ loss on Tuesday against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series has created quite a hole for the Guardians to climb out of.
After losing game 2 by a score of 6-3, the series will move back to Cleveland for game 3 on Thursday.
It appears that game 3 is a must-win for the Guardians to avoid going down 3-0 in the seven-game series.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo voiced his opinion about the Guardians’ chances to come back and make the series competitive.
“The Guardians’ margin of error is so slim, everything has to go so well, perfectly for them to be competitive in this series,” Russo said.
"The Guardians margin of error is so slim… everything has to go perfectly for them to be competitive in this series," – @MadDogUnleashed 🫢
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/6CKUaW4gwv
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 17, 2024
Russo appears to hint that the Yankees are the overall better team, and for the Guardians to win any games in this series, everything has to go just right for them.
Typically, in the postseason, games are won by the bullpen and home runs, and the Yankees excel in both of these categories.
The Guardians have a dominant bullpen, but they lack the home run power throughout their entire lineup that the Yankees possess.
Outside of Jose Ramirez’s 39 home runs and Josh Naylor’s 31 home runs, the next highest home run total for the Guardians is Lane Thomas with 15.
The Yankees have 4 players with 20+ home runs and 2 players with 40+ home runs, and this gives them a clear advantage in the power category.
Game 3 will be crucial for the Guardians to win as they are at home and already down 2-0 in the series.
They will look to Matthew Boyd on the bump to shut down this powerful Yankees lineup and give them a chance to win.
NEXT: Guardians Introduce 1 Key Lineup Change Ahead Of Game 3
