The Cleveland Guardians trail the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series 2 games to 0 after the 6-3 loss on Tuesday.
Game 3 will move back to Cleveland, and the Guardians appear to be in a must-win situation.
Matthew Boyd will take his 0.00 postseason earned run average into game 3 to take on Clarke Schmidt of the Yankees.
With what appears to be about even odds to win the game, analyst Tony Rizzo has a strong lean in who will win on Thursday.
“I like the Guards tonight,” Rizzo said.
.@TheRealTRizzo is close to guaranteeing a win tonight….. should he do it????
Do you think the Guardians win game 3??? pic.twitter.com/lkeNpyqrMe
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 17, 2024
The Guardians have only scored 5 runs combined in games 1 and 2, while the Yankees have scored 11 runs.
This high-powered Yankees lineup will be a challenge for Guardians’ pitchers to control, and Boyd will be tasked with that challenge in game 3.
If Boyd can get deep into the game and give the game over to the bullpen with a lead, then the Guardians could potentially have a good shot at cutting their series deficit in half.
Games 3 and 4 will both be home games for the Guardians, and they will both be crucial for them to get back into this series.
The Guardians offense will go up against Schmidt who started 16 games for the Yankees in the regular season and had a 2.85 earned run average with 93 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched.
Josh Naylor got it going in game 2 with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, and Jose Ramirez also found himself a home run in the game.
If these 2 hitters can keep things going in the right direction, then the Guardians should have a good chance in game 3.
NEXT: Analyst Says Guardians Are Cleveland's Best Chance To Win A Championship
