The Cleveland Guardians split their two ALDS home games and now return to The Bronx with their season on the line.
There is nothing like the drama of October baseball and the Cleveland Guardians have found themselves in a movie type scenario. Cleveland is tied with the powerhouse New York Yankees after the first four games of the American League Division Series with a decisive Game 5 taking place this evening. Due to bad scheduling and a rainout, this will be the fourth game in as many days which has cranked up the pressure for both clubs. This is the ideal situation when discussing the premise of October baseball.
New York is the better team and possess a higher payroll, but is has been Cleveland who has looked like the more complete team so far. The Guardians hold the edge in hits (36-22) and strikeouts by their pitching staff (41-38) while the Yankees hold a slight two run advance in runs scored (15-13). The runs scored number shows just how close a series between two teams so incredibly different are playing a very competitive series. It is going to come down to which team does the little things right and that has mostly been Cleveland so far.
There will be a lot said about the team which does not win this evening. Aaron Boone has been under fire for his repeated failures in the postseason and another loss could be the end of his time in New York. Meanwhile the Guardians have largely struggled over recent years, losing four straight postseason series dating back to 2016 with their Wild Card Series win bucking the trend. Should Cleveland falter it would be their 10th loss in a series clinching game in 11 tries and that is far from ideal.
