The facts
The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 on Saturday night to even the AL Championship Series at 2-2. Jonathan Aranda’s single led to two runs in the seventh inning when the ball got by right fielder Chase DeLauter, and Nick Martinez pitched five and one-third innings for his first postseason win. Game 5 of the best-of-seven matchup is Sunday in Cleveland before the series shifts back to St Petersburg, Florida, on Monday. There is no off day for travel after Friday’s game was postponed by rain. Cleveland’s Travis Bazzana hit his first postseason home run but also committed a fielding error at second base on a tough night for the Guardians’ defense. The first four hitters in the Rays’ order – Yandy Díaz, Aranda, Chandler Simpson and Junior Caminero – had six of the Rays’ 11 hits and drove in six runs after going seven for 41 with three RBIs in the first three ALCS games. Aranda had three hits and drove in two runs after going hitless in 10 at-bats in the first three games. Díaz had two hits and two RBIs, including a two-run homer in the ninth off Matt Festa, while Simpson and Caminero each drove in a run. Pitching on a 46-degree night, Martinez (1-0) allowed one run and two hits in his second career postseason start and 10th appearance. After DeLauter’s RBI single put Cleveland ahead 1-0 in the first, Martinez retired 10 consecutive batters at one point before walking Bazzana to lead off the fifth. Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead in the sixth when Caminero lined a double to the left-field wall off Daniel Espino (0-1), then broke open the game with a three-run seventh. Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls reached on base hits and moved into scoring position on a double steal. After Díaz struck out, Aranda lined a single past a diving Bazzana, who was playing near the grass between first and second, and into right field. Palacios scored, and when DeLauter allowed the ball to get under his glove, Walls came around from second. Aranda went all the way to third and scored on Simpson’s sacrifice fly. Bazzana homered in the seventh against Ian Seymour and Brayan Rocchio added an RBI single as Cleveland closed to 5-3. Shawn Armstrong opened and struck out one batter in the first inning before giving way to Foster Griffin.
Our take
Well, well, well. The Cleveland Guardians decided to show up for Game 4 of the ALCS with their defensive strategy apparently being to just fucking stand there and hope the ball politely stops moving. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. The central figure in this shitshow of fundamentals was right fielder Chase DeLauter, a man whose glove seems to be made of the same repellent material as a non-stick frying pan. In the seventh inning, with the game tied and runners on, Jonathan Aranda hit a single that, in a competent organization, would have been a routine play. Instead, DeLauter managed to let the ball get under his glove, allowing not one, but two fucking runs to score. What a heroic display of athleticism. It’s like he was trying to usher the ball into the corner with a red carpet and a welcoming committee.
This wasn't an isolated incident of Cleveland being a bunch of dickheads with leather; it was a team-wide commitment to incompetence. Second baseman Travis Bazzana, who at least contributed offensively with a homer, also committed a fielding error. So the middle of their defense was a fucking disaster zone, a place where baseballs go to die embarrassing deaths and runs are born. The Rays' top four hitters, who had been collectively hitting about as well as a wet newspaper for the first three games, suddenly looked like gods because the Guardians handed them runs on a silver platter dipped in piss.
Let's talk about the pitching, or what passed for it from Cleveland. Daniel Espino gives up a lead-changing double, and the bullpen just keeps the gravy train of runs chugging along. Matt Festa served up a two-run homer to Yandy Díaz in the ninth like it was a complimentary mint on the pillow of a shitty hotel. The whole operation reeked of a team that thought showing up was enough. They played with the urgency of a sloth on quaaludes, treating a pivotal playoff game like a fucking spring training exhibition.
So now the series is tied, and Cleveland has to play Game 5 on Sunday with no travel day, thanks to a rainout. Their reward for this defensive masterclass? Having to immediately go out and prove they aren't a complete gaggle of cunts who forgot how to catch a baseball. Good fucking luck with that. The Rays are awake now, and they've seen the weakness. They’ve seen that the path to victory is just hitting the ball vaguely in the direction of a Guardian and waiting for the hilarious, pathetic circus to begin. Cleveland’s season is now balanced on the edge of a knife, and given their demonstrated hand-eye coordination, they’re probably going to fumble that too.
