The Guardians return to Cleveland looking for the ALCS spark

CLEVELAND – There really is no place like home for the Guardians, whose 50-30 record at Progressive Field during the regular season surpasses that of the American League.

As this American League Championship Series moves away from the raucous atmosphere of Yankee Stadium, defending The Land is a must for the Guardians if they want to have a chance of climbing out of an unwanted 0-2 hole against New York.

It was clear how much of a home fortress Progressive Field can be in the Division Series against the Tigers. The Guardians capitalized on the energy of the lively Cleveland faithful in Game 1 with a five-run outburst in the first inning that sent them into a frenzy and led to a 7-0 series-opening win. The atmosphere was even wilder in Game 5 as the stadium unraveled after Lane Thomas launched a dramatic grand slam against likely AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, catapulting the Guardians into the next round of the postseason.

“The energy was crazy and especially seeing how much support and love the fans showed for us,” Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio said with the help of team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Especially when things went well or not so well. For us it is the motivation to keep going because their energy and support is second to none.”

After Tuesday’s Game 2 loss, left fielder Steven Kwan stressed the importance of the team returning to its “guard ball” identity, which is playing fundamentally sound baseball and doing the little things – aggressively Baserunning, bunting, moving runners – which are important to put pressure on the other team.

Cleveland’s pressure was missing in most of the first two games against the Yankees. Instead, they had to deal with early deficits and were unable to use the Big Four – Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, Emmanuel Clase – to shorten games out of the bullpen as they so often did in the regular season did.

“I think it could be that the crowd gets involved,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “I just think that when we get things going and make them happen, it clicks. We did that [Tuesday] Night. We just didn’t manage to achieve great success.”

The Guardians failed to hit the proverbial big mark in both losses at Yankee Stadium, as they went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and had a total of 16 runners on base in the first two games.

While there isn’t a huge difference in the pitching staff when split between home and away teams, the numbers show that the Guardians are actually doing better offensively at home. During the regular season, as a team, they hit .245 with a .729 OPS at Progressive Field, as opposed to .231 with a .678 OPS on the road. They also hit more home runs in Cleveland (99) than away from home (86).

The home environment just seems to bring out the best in some of these batsmen. Josh Naylor’s OPS was over 150 points higher at home (.852) than away (.699) this season. Even superstar José Ramírez – who is good anywhere – stepped up his game in Cleveland, posting a .301 OPS with a .915 OPS at home, as opposed to .257 with an .829 OPS on the road at Progressive Field. Each of these hitters, both of whom have had a relatively quiet postseason so far, is capable of changing the game in this lineup.

According to the ALDS, this crowd is sure to show up in full force. It will be loud and electric as ever in hopes of the home team reaching its first AL pennant since 2016, which Cleveland won on the road against the Blue Jays that year. They would have to do the same in New York this year if they could bring the series back there.

“We love playing at home,” Vogt said. “We love playing in front of our fans. I think we feel really good knowing we have three games here. Of course we would have liked to do one in New York, but we still feel very good about our chances.”