Stephen Vogt isn’t sounding like a manager ready to press the alarm after the Cleveland Guardians dropped Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Cleveland was blanked 3-0 by the White Sox on Saturday afternoon, managing only three hits and leaving the bases loaded twice without cashing in. That put the White Sox up one game in the best-of-five series and left the Guardians with work to do heading into Monday. But when Vogt spoke with reporters, he kept the message steady.
“We still have a great opportunity ahead of us to even the series tomorrow and go to Chicago with a chance to win it,” Vogt said.
Vogt made it clear he views Saturday as just one loss, not a defining moment. He pointed back to the regular season, when the Guardians took their share of defeats but consistently found a response the next day or the day after.
Yes, he said, winning the opener would have been ideal. Still, he believes Cleveland is in position to pull even in Game 2 and then head to Chicago with a real chance to take the series.
There’s also recent October evidence behind that confidence. In Vogt’s first postseason as manager in 2024, Cleveland trailed Detroit two games to one in the division series after the offense was shut down in back-to-back losses.
The Guardians answered by winning Game 4 on the road to force a winner-take-all Game 5, then closed it out at Progressive Field to move on to the American League Championship Series. Vogt has seen this group, and several of these same core players, respond in a short series before.
Now the focus shifts to Monday’s Game 2, set for 5 p.m. at Progressive Field. Gavin Williams will start for Cleveland after leading the American League with 248 strikeouts, and he was especially sharp at home this season with a 2.84 ERA over eighteen starts in Cleveland. A strong outing from him would give Vogt a chance to lean on a rested bullpen anchored by Cade Smith, who tied for the major league lead with 41 saves.
The Guardians also have to clean up the offense. In Game 1, they went 0-3 with runners in scoring position and struck out often against a steady stream of Chicago left-handers. Steven Kwan and the rest of the lineup will be trying to turn Saturday’s traffic on the bases into runs when they take the field again on Monday.
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