For a team to save its season with two playoff wins on the road, everything has to go right. It starts with the manager making sure he is on point and putting his players in the best position to succeed.
The Cleveland Guardians headed on the road to play the Chicago White Sox, knowing that one loss at Rate Field was going to end their campaign far short of their goal. Stephen Vogt helped make sure that did not happen.
Now, with Game 5 of the ALDS set for Progressive Field on Saturday, analyst Anthony Lima is giving major credit to Vogt for his “incredible” moves, particularly in the 9-5, Game 4 win on Thursday, which included a pinch-hit homer by Patrick Bailey that changed the momentum of the game in the fifth inning.
“Everybody wanted to fire Vogt. Everybody was willing to give him away to Seattle. Again, the incredible, incredible things that happened in that game yesterday. Just thinking about how he goes to a pinch hitter, takes [Austin] Hedges out, puts Bailey in, boom. Changes the game. One by one, just these incredible happenstances changed the fortunes of a baseball team that looked like they were on total life support,” Lima said.
“Just incredible happenstances changed the fortunes of a baseball team that looked like it was on total life support.”
➡️ @SportsBoyTony w/ @KenCarman on Stephen Vogt’s moves, Patrick Bailey’s impact and how the Guardians flipped the pressure onto the White Sox.#Guardians pic.twitter.com/bCOAPeDlOH
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) October 9, 2026
Cleveland lost Games 1 and 2 at home, 3-0 and 4-3, to Chicago to open the best-of-5 series. After a 9-3 win in Game 3, the Guardians and Vogt still had no room for error to avoid a second straight first-series elimination and the possible departure of the manager to the Seattle Mariners.
After Bailey got the offense going, Vogt walked a tightrope with his pitching staff. He removed starter Parker Messick after just 2.1 innings when it was clear the rookie wasn’t sharp in his second career playoff start. He used seven pitchers out of the bullpen, including Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams, neither of whom had ever pitched in relief in an MLB game.
The circumstances leading to Williams’ appearance are worth examining. In Game 3, closer Cade Smith was used for two full innings, even though the Guardians had a four-run lead that eventually became six runs in a 9-3 win.
Then, in Game 4, with Cleveland holding a five-run lead, Vogt again called on Smith to finish the final two innings, but this time he was not up to the task. With other relievers available, Vogt opted to turn to Williams, the likely Game 5 starter, and he needed 18 pitches to get three outs to end it.
It will be interesting to see if that particular decision comes back to haunt Vogt and the Guardians in Game 5, or if the momentum he’s built is enough to get them into the ALCS.
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