2024 American League Championship Series

Game Three - New York Yankees @ Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians return to Cleveland with their backs against the wall, having lost the first two game of the ALCS to the Yankees in the Bronx. Steven Vogt’s team finds themselves in a 2-0 series hole due to a mix of sloppy defense, shaky pitching, and shoddy hitting. There’s a lot that this club will have to shape up in short order if they want to avoid being down three games to none. These guys were pushed to the brink against Detroit in the previous series, and they responded with aplomb. If they’re to have any chance against the Yankees, they’re gonna need to do the same tonight.

The Yankees are just two wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time in 15 seasons. They haven’t been perfect so far, but there has been little to complain about. The pitching has been outstanding, particularly Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver at the back end. They’ve gotten contributions up and down the lineup, with Torres and Soto setting the table and Stanton cleaning up. Aaron Judge may finally be breaking out of his postseason slump, homering in game two. But there is still work to do, and manager Aaron Boone is well aware of how quickly fortunes can change in the playoffs.

Game three will feature a matchup between Cleveland lefty Matthew Boyd and New York righty Clarke Schmidt. Boyd has been effective so far, but his outings have been short by design. With no Cleveland starter having completed five innings to this point and with a bullpen that’s been taxed, how many outs can the Guardians get from the lefty. The 28 year old righty for the Yankees was good, but unspectacular in his first postseason start. Boone will likely have a quick hook to set up his powerful back-end arms, but their heavy usage could be cause for concern. Tune in to one of the best playoff games of the past deade.

Audio clips from MLB.tv

CLE radio WTAM - Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

CLE radio ESP - Rafa Hernández-Brito and Carlos Baerga

NYY radio WFAN- John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

TBS broadcast - Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and Jeff Francoeur

Catch you next time,

P.C.O.