Rocchio and Brennan lead the Guardians to a 2-0 victory over the Yankees, sending them home in the ALCS
The Cleveland Guardians find themselves in a significant deficit in the American League Championship Series due to careless play.
On Tuesday night, rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio and right fielder Will Brennan made critical errors that allowed runs to cross the plate, resulting in a 6-3 defeat to the New York Yankees. This loss puts the Yankees ahead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
This marks the Guardians' sixth appearance in the ALCS, and they are facing a two-game deficit for the first time as the series transitions to Cleveland for Game 3 on Thursday night following a day off.
Rocchio, who recorded 12 errors in 462 chances during the regular season, misplayed a pop-up hit by slugger Aaron Judge in the first inning, which led to New York's initial run. With runners on second and third, Rocchio moved several steps to the right side of the infield and was positioned to the right of second base when Judge's pop-up deflected off the webbing of his glove, allowing Gleyber Torres to score and placing Cleveland in an early disadvantage.
“Clearly, I wasn’t able to catch it,” Rocchio stated through a translator. “There is no excuse; I need to make that play. I believe I was in the right position because I thought I was under the ball, but at the last moment, I leaned towards second base.”
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt expressed that the play was not straightforward.
“That ball was in the air for a considerable duration due to the wind, making it a challenging play,” Vogt remarked. “Such occurrences are part of the game.”
Brennan, who executed a sliding catch in foul territory off Giancarlo Stanton for the second out in the first inning, faced difficulties when attempting to handle a carom from Anthony Rizzo's double in the sixth inning, following Cleveland's narrowing of the score to 3-2 just an inning prior.
Rizzo's line drive struck the lower side wall and ricocheted towards Brennan. The ball slipped off his hand, allowing Anthony Volpe to score from first base, thereby increasing New York's lead to 4-2.
“I felt the need to act quickly, knowing that Volpe has some speed,” Brennan explained. “I misplayed it slightly, which is not typical for me, but it occurred in that moment.”
Throughout the regular season, Brennan played 80 of his 98 games in right field and recorded two errors in 132 opportunities. In total, he made two errors in 161 chances.
The errors committed by Rocchio and Brennan were notable, especially considering Cleveland had only one error in their first six postseason games.
“We did not play Cleveland baseball today,” left fielder Steven Kwan stated. “We made a few errors. We take great pride in our defense, so if we aim to win games, we must adhere to our standard of play.”
The Guardians recorded 87 errors during the regular season, tying with Tampa Bay for ninth place in the American League.
SportsLigue