The Cleveland Guardians came to within two outs of pulling off a sweep over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night, but were unable to finish the job.
Ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Cleveland tapped their lockdown closer, Emmanuel Clase, to finish things off.
Clase had converted his last 25 save opportunities.
But disaster struck for Clase, who allowed a game-tying hit to MJ Melendez and later allowed the winning run to score on Salvador Perez‘s walk-off sacrifice fly.
After an impressive run of 25 saves in as many opportunities, Clase had a blowup night and blew his first save since May 9.
That’s Emmanuel Clase’s first blown save since May 9. He had converted his last 25 save chances.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) September 8, 2022
Clase Falters In Key Moment
Clase has been a sure thing for most of the year each time he comes out of the bullpen.
Last night was a rare exception.
It was bound to happen at some point, but it came at an inopportune time for the Guardians.
Cleveland was unable to pull off a much-needed sweep after having dropped five in a row.
They also failed to pick up any ground on the Minnesota Twins, who were ultimately swept by the New York Yankees in a day-night doubleheader.
The Guardians still remain two games up in the American League Central, but are 3-7 in their last 10 games and just five games above the .500 mark at 70-65.
In what has been a surprisingly good season for the Guardians, last night was a tough blow as Clase had a rare meltdown on the mound that allowed the Royals to come back and beat Cleveland in a crucial September game.
The Guardians head to Minnesota to take on the Twins in an important weekend series that could determine the outcome of the AL Central race.
Leave a Reply