Reliever Cade Smith has saved the Cleveland Guardians more than a few times over the last year.
He has been one of MLB’s best bullpen pieces since the start of the 2024 campaign, and the numbers back that up.
On Tuesday, however, he just didn’t have it.
Handed a two-run lead after the Guardians’ incredible and improbable comeback (they scored six runs in the seventh inning to turn a 6-2 deficit into an 8-6 lead,) Smith had a rare bad game and allowed four runs in 0.2 innings of work.
A rare implosion for Cade Smith pic.twitter.com/1r6roOq9oZ
— 3 Up 3 Down Pod (@3up3downpod22) May 6, 2025
The Guardians ended up heartbreakingly losing 10-9.
This goes to show that no pitcher in MLB is invincible, as close to perfection as he might seem to be.
Smith is as close to an automatic clean inning as it gets, but everybody has an off game from time to time.
The two outs he got came via the strikeout, but he walked one, allowed three hits, and allowed four runs.
His ERA increased to 3.12.
Before Tuesday’s collapse, Smith hadn’t surrendered any runs, earned or unearned, in his last eight games.
The last time he had conceded a run was on April 15th.
That’s how good he is and how rare games like Tuesday’s are for him.
Unfortunately, it came at a really bad time and cost the Guardians a win.
Even the best in the business are prone to fail every once in a while.
That unpredictability is what makes the game so fascinating.
Guardians’ fans might not agree with that sentiment on Tuesday, though.
NEXT: Guardians Struggling Outfielder Might Be Starting To Turn Things Around
