The Guardians are one step from the World Series after taking Game 3 of the ALCS, 3-2, on Thursday at Progressive Field, and they did it with the kind of moment that can swing a series in a hurry.
Petey Halpin delivered the big blow in the bottom of the fifth, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer off Griffin Jax to flip the game Cleveland’s way. Halpin then added a bat flip to match the swing, sending his bat spinning high above him after the ball landed in the right-field bleachers.
“I don’t know, I think I blacked out,” Halpin said when asked about his bat-flip. “I’m not sure what I was doing, to be completely honest. But it was fun.”
Before Halpin’s blast, the afternoon had already taken on a playoff-edge feel in Cleveland. The game was moved up from 6 p.m.
ET to a 1 p.m. first pitch, but that didn’t slow the crowd down. Guardians fans filled the ballpark and spent the day riding every pitch, then shook the stadium loose when the homer changed the game.
Gavin Williams gave Cleveland exactly what it needed on the mound. He turned in another brilliant outing, striking out nine Rays over five innings and keeping Tampa Bay from ever finding a comfortable rhythm. In this postseason alone, Williams has piled up 33 strikeouts across 16 2/3 innings, and his 45.9% strikeout rate is the highest in MLB history among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched, ahead of Corey Knebel’s 44.6%.
Tampa Bay did manage to scratch out two runs against him, with Chandler Simpson driving a triple into the right-field corner, but the Rays are still waiting for their top bats to deliver in this series. Junior Caminero, the young star whose first career postseason homer has yet to arrive, remains the biggest name under that spotlight.
For Cleveland, the win means the series now heads into Game 4 with the Guardians in control and two chances to finish the job at home. Game 4 is set for Friday at 6 p.m. ET, though rain is in the forecast and both clubs are preparing for another possible schedule adjustment.
The numbers say teams that win Game 3 of a tied best-of-seven series go on to take the series 71 of 102 times, and in the current 2-3-2 format, clubs that grab Game 3 at home to move up 2-1 have won the series 30 of 49 times.
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