NEW YORK — When in doubt, bring it back to the basics.
Coming into the American League Division Series, the Guardians said the key to their success would be sticking to their regular game plan of putting the ball in play and taking advantage of their opponents’ mistakes. It took 10 innings to get back to that strategy, but it rewarded Cleveland with a 4-2 win Friday over the Yankees on an Oscar Gonzalez bloop single in Game 2 of the ALDS. The series is now tied, 1-1.
“We seem to have played in a lot of games where that’s the outcome,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “It’s not an easy way to win, but it doesn’t mean you can’t.”
It was clear the Guardians were trying to get back to their small-ball roots when Steven Kwan bunted for a single on the first pitch of the game. The club desperately needed to break the pattern it had fallen into. A team that ended the regular season with the lowest strikeout percentage in the Majors (18.2 percent) entered Game 2 with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate in its first three games of the playoffs, while all its runs were scored via homer.
Getting out of their style of play was not going to lend the Guardians much success. The team was able to chip away in the early frames, scoring on an Andrés Giménez single to right in the fourth and an Amed Rosario solo homer in the fifth. The bullpen continued mowing down its opponents, as it has done the entire postseason, and Cleveland started to show signs of rediscovering its identity.
“I kind of enjoyed today because we hung around,” Francona said. “And I kept thinking, ‘We are going to find a way.'”
Ramírez dropped a soft double into shallow left field to lead off the frame. The hit had just a 76.3 mph exit velocity and a .090 expected batting average. When left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera failed to make the sliding catch, Ramírez was cruising into second base. Third baseman Josh Donaldson picked up the ball and fired it to second, but overthrew the bag, allowing Ramírez to hustle to third.
It was the exact style of play Cleveland mastered all season.
“José is probably the only player in baseball that ends up on third with that ball,” Francona said. “He got that coming out of the box and he had the wherewithal knowing he could get to third. That was pretty remarkable.”
The Guardians have preached all season that Ramírez needs to be the player who sets the example of doing all the little things correctly. Nearly every time he has the opportunity to make the slightest bit of a difference, especially on the bases, he capitalizes.
“We know how good a player he is,” Gonzalez said via interpreter Agustin Rivero. “He’s a good example to follow, and he always tells me to play hard because you never know what can happen.”
With no one out and Ramírez on third, Gonzalez just needed to put the ball in play. He made weak contact on a 1-2 curveball from Jameson Taillon (58.9 mph exit velocity) that found grass in shallow right field, easily scoring Ramírez to give Cleveland the lead. After Gonzalez’s walk-off homer in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series last weekend, his two go-ahead hits are tied with Bert Campaneris (1973) for the second most in a single postseason, trailing just David Ortiz (three) in 2004.
“We just keep focusing on doing the small things and putting the ball in play, and that has given us results,” Gonzalez said.
Josh Naylor gave the Guardians some breathing room with an RBI double following Gonzalez’s clutch hit, but closer Emmanuel Clase didn’t need it, as he worked a career-high 2 1/3 scoreless innings to secure the win.
In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format (excluding the 2020 series played at neutral sites) there have been 39 previous instances of teams splitting the first two games. In those 39 series, the club heading home for Games 3 and 4 went on to advance 26 times (67 percent).
“It’s gonna be a phenomenal weekend,” Guardians starter Shane Bieber said. “I’m excited to feel the energy and go out there and play our game.”
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