<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-denies-emmanuel-clase-venezuelan-attempt-mlb-investigation');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians deny Emmanuel Clase’s Venezuelan baseball attempt amid MLB investigation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Emmanuel-Clase.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians deny Emmanuel Clase’s Venezuelan baseball attempt amid MLB investigation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-22T18:53:47-07:00">October 22nd, 6:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-22T19:15:03-07:00">October 22nd, 7:15pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is a veteran editor and writer for print and digital media. He also created and oversaw video and event production departments for legacy media brands. Mike is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Just prior to the 2025 MLB trade deadline Major League Baseball launched a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-emmanuel-clases-trade-status-twist-gambling-investigation">gambling investigation into Emmanuel Clase</a>. The Cleveland Guardians’ All-Star reliever and teammate Luis Ortiz were placed on non-disciplinary paid leave while MLB’s inquiry played out.</p><p>The investigation, which is still ongoing, sidelined both pitchers for the remainder of the 2025 season. Clase, a native of the Dominican Republic, planned to pitch for Estrellas Orientales in the team’s winter season. But the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-emmauel-clase-luis-ortiz-banned-from-winter-league">Dominican baseball league banned Clase</a> and Ortiz from joining the team.</p><p>Clase then pivoted, choosing to pitch for the Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan winter league instead. But, because the two-time AL Reliever of the Year is not a Venezuelan native and is under an MLB contract, he needed Cleveland’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6741459/2025/10/22/emmanuel-clase-venezuela-pitch-mlb-gambling-investigation/" rel="noopener">approval to join</a> Venezuela’s winter league. On Wednesday, the Guardians denied Clase permission to pitch for Tiburones de La Guaira, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic.</p><h2><b>Emmanuel Clase won’t pitch during gambling probe</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Emmanuel-Clase-2.jpg"><figcaption>David Richard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Clase had established himself as one of baseball’s best closers in his first four seasons with the Guardians. He led the majors in saves in 2022 and 2023 and was tops in the American League in 2024.</p><p>Last season was Clase’s strongest. He finished with a 0.61 ERA, 0.659 WHIP and a mind-blowing 667 ERA+. He recorded 47 saves for Cleveland and racked up 4.4 bWAR in 74.1 innings, finishing third in Cy Young voting.</p><p>Clase’s ERA jumped to 3.23 in 47.1 innings during his abbreviated 2025 season. He saved 24 games for a Guardians team that appeared unlikely to reach the postseason. Cleveland considered trading the 27-year-old reliever but those plans were derailed when <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-rumors-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-situation-receives-important-update">Clase became the target of a gambling investigation</a>.</p><p>The Guardians, at the behest of Major League Baseball, moved swiftly. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-lockers-cleared-out-mlb-gambling-investigation">Clase’s locker was cleared out</a> days after the inquiry was announced. He would spend the rest of the season on paid leave as the league looked into reports from the Ohio Casino Control Commission of suspicious wagers.</p><p>Cleveland was nine games back in the AL Central and four games out of a Wild Card berth when Clase and Ortiz were removed from the team at the end of July. However an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-most-to-blame-al-central-collapse-guardians">epic collapse by the Tigers</a> allowed the Guardians to overtake Detroit and win the division. Cleveland then lost in the Wild Card round to the Tigers 2-1.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians deny Emmanuel Clase’s Venezuelan baseball attempt amid MLB investigation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-4-million-move-world-series-champion');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians make $4 million move on World Series champion');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Guardians-president-of-baseball-operations-Chris-Antonetti.jpg"><figcaption>Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians make $4 million move on World Series champion</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-14T20:03:25-07:00">October 14th, 8:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-14T20:03:57-07:00">October 14th, 8:03pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians march to the beat of their own drum, and it usually works out reasonably well for them. However, if this franchise is going to ascend to the next level and return to the World Series for the first time since 2016, it may need to open up the checkbook a bit more. Ownership is doing just that on Tuesday night, but surprisingly, the team’s backup catcher is the recipient. Defensive savant Austin Hedges is re-signing with the Guards on a <a href="https://x.com/JonHeyman/status/1978280316151148904" rel="noopener">$4 million contract</a>, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network.</p><p>The deal also includes $500 thousand in incentives. That is a pretty penny to pay for a .185 career hitter who will continue to play behind Bo Naylor. Hedges ranked in the top-five in <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/catcher-throwing?game_type=Regular&amp;n=q&amp;season_end=2025&amp;season_start=2025&amp;split=no&amp;team=&amp;type=Cat&amp;with_team_only=1&amp;target_base=All&amp;sortColumn=cs_raa&amp;sortDirection=desc" rel="noopener">catcher stealing runs</a> and <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/catcher-framing" rel="noopener">catcher framing runs</a> during the 2025 campaign, per Baseball Savant, and is undeniably an asset to a pitching staff that finished fourth in MLB with a 3.70 ERA. The problem, however, is that the 33-year-old does not usually play enough to warrant such a financial commitment.</p><p>Hedges, who won a title with the Texas Rangers in 2023, logged just 134 games with the Guardians across the last two seasons. Moreover, he posted a measly .161 batting average and .527 OPS in 2025. Unless the 2011 second-round draft pick spends considerably more time at the backstop, this move will be difficult to explain to fans. Though, considering that Naylor hit below the Mendoza Line himself, maybe Hedges will have a more frequent in-game presence in 2026.</p><p>Following a two-year stretch that has seen Cleveland reach the American League Championship Series and complete <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-15-5-game-comeback-steal-al-central-tigers">an unprecedented comeback</a> in the AL Central, one can understand why president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti would want to keep Austin Hedges on the roster. But at that price, fans will demand that the Guardians address other needs in free agency as well.</p><p>If Cleveland fully embodies its small-market nature the rest of its offseason, people will vividly remember this move.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians make $4 million move on World Series champion

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-emmauel-clase-luis-ortiz-banned-from-winter-league');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz banned from Winter League');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Cleveland-Guardians-relief-pitcher-Emmanuel-Clase-1.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz banned from Winter League</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-14T13:25:16-07:00">October 14th, 1:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-14T13:38:49-07:00">October 14th, 1:38pm</time><address><a>Zachary Howell</a>Zachary Howell is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints focusing on creating premier MLB content. He is a big fan of the Yankees, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Syracuse Orange. In his free time, he likes to be outside or read.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians dealt with a lot of drama in the second half of the 2025 season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-blame-al-wild-card-series-loss-tigers">Cleveland made it into the Major League Baseball playoffs</a>, even if the Detroit Tigers sent them home. However, the gambling investigation into Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz is the story of the season. Both relievers had their MLB Winter League applications turned down..</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-lockers-cleared-out-mlb-gambling-investigation">Guardians sent Clase and Ortiz away from the clubhouse when MLB started a gambling investigation</a> concerning both of them. Missing both in the bullpen held Cleveland back and played a part in their abbreviated playoff run. As the Guardians kick off their offseason, players have a chance to keep their skills sharp in the Winter League down in the Dominican Republic.</p><p>While players from around the league will participate in the Dominican Winter League, Clase and Ortiz will not join them. According to Cleveland.com reporter Joe Noga, the league <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2025/10/why-were-two-guardians-pitchers-denied-by-dominican-winter-league-amid-mlbs-gambling-investigation.html" rel="noopener">turned them away</a> because of the investigation.</p><p>“The league, it turns out, came out and denied them their applications to play, basically rejecting them from being added to their team’s roster despite them having worked out and been ready to go,” Noga said.</p><p>Both Clase and Ortiz are waiting for MLB to come to a conclusion and end its gambling investigation. However, hefty suspensions are likely as the league sends a message to players around the country. Unfortunately for the relievers, it means that they will have to wait to get back onto the mound and play in organized games.</p><p>Despite the investigation, Clase and Ortiz hold value around the league. Depending on how things end, the Guardians have some big decisions to make this offseason. However, Cleveland’s bullpen missing out on the Dominican Winter League may only be the beginning. For now, though, all they can do is wait for the investigation to come to a close.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz banned from Winter League

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-david-fry-undergoes-surgery-frightening-injury-during-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians’ David Fry undergoes surgery after frightening injury during season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/David-Fry-hits-a-home-run.jpg"><figcaption>Eric Canha-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians’ David Fry undergoes surgery after frightening injury during season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-07T16:44:57-07:00">October 7th, 4:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-07T16:44:57-07:00">October 7th, 4:44pm</time><address><a>Russell Steinberg</a>Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>David Fry of the Cleveland Guardians underwent surgery on Tuesday to correct a deviated septum and a nasal fracture, stemming from when Detroit Tigers pitcher <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-david-fry-taken-hospital-tarik-skubal-fastball-face">Tarik Skubal hit him in the face with a fastball</a> on September 23.</p><p>The surgery was <a href="https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/cleveland-guardians/catcher-david-fry-receives-nasal-surgery-pitcher-nic-enright-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery" rel="noopener">performed at the Cleveland Clinic</a> by Dr. Anthony Tufaro, a team spokesperson told News5 Cleveland.</p><p>It’s a shift from the team’s prognosis the day after Fry’s injury, when it declared that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-david-fry-injury-revealed-frightening-scare-tigers">Fry should heal in six to eight weeks</a>, “without the need for surgery.”</p><p>“[Fry’s rehab] was halted a little bit a couple weeks ago. But once David Fry is healthy, we know he’s going to impact our team in a number of ways,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Tuesday, per the outlet.</p><p>It was a difficult and disappointing year for Fry. The 2024 All-Star played in only 66 games, starting the season on the injured list as he recovered from surgery to address a flexor strain and UCL injury. When he finally debuted on May 31, he slashed .171/.229/.363 .</p><p>Of course, any concern about Fry’s play on the field took an immediate backseat the moment Skubal’s fastball touched his face. The reigning Cy Young winner <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-tarik-skubal-david-fry-hospital-visit">visited Fry in the hospital</a> after-the-fact, along with Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and several of his teammates.</p><p>“By all accounts, Fry was in good spirits,” The Athletic’s Zach Meisel posted at the time via X. “Fry is back home and his family is headed to Cleveland to be with him.”</p><p>Just a week after the incident, the AL Central rivals met up in a Wild Card series, necessitated by the Guardians’ furious comeback to steal the division by one game. The Tigers, however, got the last laugh, knocking Cleveland out of the playoffs with a 2-1 series win.</p><p>Detroit is now battling it out with the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians’ David Fry undergoes surgery after frightening injury during season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/entertainment/charlie-sheen-shuts-down-major-league-rumor-reveals-fastball-speed');   ga('set', 'title', 'Charlie Sheen shuts down ‘Major League’ rumor, reveals impressive fastball speed');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Charlie-Sheen-shuts-down-%E2%80%98Major-League-rumor-reveals-impressive-fastball-speed.jpg"><figcaption>Credit: Tom Szczerbowski</figcaption></figure><h1>Charlie Sheen shuts down ‘Major League’ rumor, reveals impressive fastball speed</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-03T14:16:51-07:00">October 3rd, 2:16pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-03T14:16:51-07:00">October 3rd, 2:16pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/chris.spiering.3" rel="facebook">Chris Spiering</a>Chris Spiering graduated from the University of San Diego with a Communication Studies Degree. He spent his final year as the Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris used to manage the betting team at ClutchPoints and now contributes about the NFL, MLB, NCAA Sports, and NBA, but he follows most sports, including NCAA Basketball. Chris also covers San Diego State men's basketball for East Village Times.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When you think of classic sports movies, Major League needs to be mentioned with the greats. Major League and Major League 2 gave fans a sense of what it was like to play for a major league baseball team in a comedic way. Charlie Sheen, among others, starred in the two movies as players for the Cleveland Indians, who are now the Cleveland Guardians. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-blame-al-wild-card-series-loss-tigers">Guardians’ season ended in a loss to the Detroit Tigers</a> in the AL Wild Card.</p><p>Charlie Sheen has had a “wild” acting career, but his role in these two movies was well done. He played a pitcher named Ricky Vaughn, who was a convict who tried out for the team after his release from prison. After making the roster, he became the team’s closing pitcher and was known for his punk appearance and his walk-out song, “Wild Thing,” a song by X.</p><p>Sheen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8tFQENM3a5Q" rel="noopener">recently appeared on the Rich Eisen Show</a> and was asked about his pitching speed.</p><p>Here is the short conversation between Eisen and Sheen.</p><p>Eisen: “True or False, producers from ‘Major League’ moved the mound up 10 feet to make your fastball appear to go faster?”</p><p>Sheen: “Oh my god … very false.”</p><p>Eisen: “So Ricky Vaughn was really bringing it?”</p><p>Sheen: “60.6, absolutely, come on, yeah. And I probably topped out at 84 or 85. But that was enough to create that 98 plus.”</p><p>Sheen would later talk about how he would throw a ton of pitches while filming for the movie, and would do all the things that major league pitchers would do in between starts.</p><p>“I wasn’t a part of a five-man rotation,” Sheen said. “I didn’t have any rest days. I would throw 150 pitches until 3:00 in the morning and then come back the next day and throw 100 more. That is just how the schedule was built.”</p><p>You can watch the entire conversation on the Rich Eisen Show platforms on Disney and ESPN.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Charlie Sheen shuts down ‘Major League’ rumor, reveals impressive fastball speed

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-blame-al-wild-card-series-loss-tigers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians most to blame for AL Wild Card series loss to Tigers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Javier-Baez-tags-out-Jose-Ramirez.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians most to blame for AL Wild Card series loss to Tigers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-03T08:59:42-07:00">October 3rd, 8:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-03T09:06:37-07:00">October 3rd, 9:06am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Detroit <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-playoff-turnaround-unlike-anything-mlb-history">Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians</a> two games to one in the American League Wild Card series, ultimately ending the Guardians’ season. Detroit blew a 15.5 game lead during the regular season, as Cleveland shocked the MLB world by winning the American League Central. However, the Tigers bounced back in the postseason. So, which Guardians are most to blame for the team’s frustrating series against the Tigers?</p><h2><b>Steven Kwan</b></h2><p>Jose Ramirez is the best player on the Guardians, but Steven Kwan is not too far behind. He’s a Gold Glove outfielder and reliable offensive presence at the top of the batting order… at least for most of the time. It was a different story in the Guardians’ three games against the Tigers, though.</p><p>Kwan hit just .167/.167/.333 (2-12 at the plate). He features some of the better plate discipline in the game. Even when Kwan is not hitting the ball well, he often finds ways to get on base. His .167 OBP was obviously far from ideal, though. </p><p>Aside from their six-run outburst in Game 2, the Guardians’ offense failed to find much of a rhythm. Kwan’s inability to get on base certainly played a role. </p><p>He’s still a tremendous player who will positively impact the ball club in 2026, but Cleveland would have had a much better chance of winning the series if Kwan played up to his expectations. </p><h2><b>Guardians’ defense</b></h2><p>The Guardians often play a quality brand of defense. However, the team not only made multiple errors, but the defense endured a number of mistakes that were not officially scored as errors. </p><p>Cleveland made four total errors. There were other plays that could have been made but were not. The errors were troublesome enough, but mistakes — such as the one you will see in the following video from infielder CJ Kayufs — led to the series loss.</p><p><a href="https://x.com/MLB/status/1973838353993723953">Video via</a> MLB:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kerry Carpenter sends one down the line for a <a href="https://twitter.com/tigers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tigers</a> lead 👀 <a href="https://t.co/u26ywzoVQF">pic.twitter.com/u26ywzoVQF</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1973838353993723953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Guardians may have had an inning-ending double play if Kayfus caught the ground-ball. Instead, the ball got by him and the Tigers took an early lead. Of course, the defense was not all Kayfus’ fault, as a number of other Guardians made errors/defensive mistakes. </p><h2><b>Jose Ramirez</b></h2><p>Is it fair to blame Ramirez for the series loss after he carried the Guardians for most of the season? In fact, Ramirez has carried the team for years now. It is certainly difficult to place any blame on Ramirez, but he made a couple of costly base-running mistakes that negatively impacted the team. </p><p>From an offensive standpoint, the Guardians superstar hit .250/.500/.250 with four walks and an RBI. It certainly wasn’t his best performance, but Ramirez’s hitting is not the reason he is landing in our most to blame article. </p><p>In the 9th inning of Game 1, Kyle Manzardo hit a ground-ball back to Tigers’ closer Will Vest as Detroit led 2-1 with one out in the inning. Ramirez, who was seemingly running on contact, took off for home and was ultimately tagged out. The Tigers ended up holding onto the 2-1 lead for a big victory.</p><p>The baserunning blunders did not stop there, though. </p><p>In the 8th inning of Game 3 with runners on second and third base and two outs, Ramirez stepped to the plate as Cleveland trailed 6-1. He hit the ball on the ground to first base where Spencer Torkelson fielded it cleanly. However, Vest — who was pitching again — covered first base but dropped the throw from Torkelson. </p><p>As a result, the Guardians added two runs to make it a 6-3 game. It seemed as if Cleveland was officially back in the contest. Ramirez, however, immediately ran to second base following Vest’s error. The Tigers pitcher recovered the ball and threw Ramirez out at second base. </p><p>It required a tremendous tag from Javier Baez — but the fact of the matter is that Ramirez was far too aggressive given the fact that Cleveland still trailed by three runs. </p><h2><b>Final thoughts</b></h2><p>It’s fair to place the blame on the Guardians’ two best players and the defense for this series. Sure, the overall offense was horrendous at times — but Cleveland needed Ramirez and Kwan to lead the way both offensively and on the base paths. And with the lineup struggling, the Guardians needed a much better all-around defensive performance. </p><p>Cleveland displayed no shortage of resiliency in September as they passed Detroit for the division lead. However, this was a team that did not look ready for the bright lights of October baseball. Nevertheless, the future remains bright with Ramirez and Kwan leading the way.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians most to blame for AL Wild Card series loss to Tigers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-dick-vitales-reaction-wild-card-win');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dick Vitale’s hyped reaction to Tigers Wild Card win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Detroit-Tigers-CEO-Chris-Ilitch.jpg"><figcaption>© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Dick Vitale’s hyped reaction to Tigers Wild Card win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-03T02:06:59-07:00">October 3rd, 2:06am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-03T02:08:55-07:00">October 3rd, 2:08am</time><address><a>Abdullah Imran</a>Abdullah Imran works as an Associate Editor for All Sports at ClutchPoints. He’s been a sports fan his entire life and enjoys writing about every sport. He has spent three years in sports journalism and loves analyzing games. In his free time, he very much enjoys binge-watching shows and playing video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-playoff-turnaround-unlike-anything-mlb-history">Detroit Tigers put their late-season woes behind them</a> and clinched the ALDS berth with a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, in Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series at Progressive Field. With the victory, Detroit eliminated Cleveland and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/3-bold-predictions-tigers-mariners-alds">will face the Seattle Mariners in the best-of-five Division Series</a> starting Saturday, Oct. 4, in Seattle.</p><p>Hall-of-fame basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale, famously known as “Dickie V,” took to X (formerly Twitter) <a href="https://x.com/DickieV/status/1973875088647975073" rel="noopener">to celebrate the win</a>.</p><p>“It’s party time in Motown @tigers finally have something to feel good about by beating @CleGuardians 6-3 since their collapse in blowing a 15 ½ game lead that cost them the AL Midwest division. Now they should feel terrific as they get ready to face @Mariners,” Vitale wrote.</p><p>Detroit struck first in Game 3. Designated hitter Kerry Carpenter opened the scoring in the third inning with a double down the first-base line that clanged off Cleveland first baseman C.J. Kayfus’s glove. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead, though the Guardians tied the game in the fourth when Jose Ramirez singled in a run off Detroit starter Jack Flaherty, who had allowed just one hit and no runs through the first three innings.</p><p>The game turned on its head in the final four innings. Dillon Dingler, the Tigers’ catcher, sent one over the fence for a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth inning, his first hit of the postseason, crushing a middle-up changeup from left-handed reliever Joey Cantillo over the 19-foot wall in left field. Detroit then exploded for four runs in the seventh. Wenceel Pérez, batting third for the game, ripped a two-RBI single with the bases loaded, while Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene added RBI singles, giving the Tigers a commanding 6-1 lead. Before this, Perez had only five hits in his last 66 plate appearances.</p><p>The Guardians, who ranked 28th in runs scored and park-adjusted offense during the 2025 regular season, mounted a minor comeback with two runs in the eighth inning due to a miscue by reliever Will Vest. Vest regained his composure and slammed the door in the ninth, keeping the 6-3 lead intact.</p><p>Flaherty, a playoff veteran who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 2024 World Series after a midseason trade from Detroit, finished 4⅔ innings with one run allowed on three hits and two walks, striking out four while throwing 74 pitches. He now boasts a 1.62 ERA across three winner-take-all postseason starts over 11 games.</p><p>For the first time since Sept. 10, Detroit’s offense found its groove, scoring more than five runs and sending a clear message to the Guardians, who famously battled back from a 15 ½ game deficit to win the AL Central. The Tigers will now try to carry this hot streak into Seattle against the second-seeded Mariners, hoping to break through in the Division Series for the first time since 2013.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dick Vitale’s hyped reaction to Tigers Wild Card win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-stephen-vogt-dejected-take-wild-card-loss-tigers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians manager Stephen Vogt’s dejected take after Wild Card loss to Tigers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Stephen-Vogt.jpg"><figcaption>Denny Medley-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians manager Stephen Vogt’s dejected take after Wild Card loss to Tigers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-02T16:36:23-07:00">October 2nd, 4:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-02T21:32:30-07:00">October 2nd, 9:32pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-15-5-game-comeback-steal-al-central-tigers">Cleveland Guardians completed the biggest comeback</a> in regular-season history, stunning the Detroit Tigers to win the American League Central Division and earn home-field advantage for the club’s hotly anticipated Wild Card Series face-off. Stephen Vogt should earn serious consideration for a second consecutive Manager of the Year crown after guiding this undermanned and adversity-stricken group to the postseason. Ultimately, though, those accomplishments will be a footnote.</p><p>Detroit ended its prolonged stumbles when it mattered most, avenging a late-season collapse with a 6-3 Game 3 victory to advance to the AL Division Series. A rabid home crowd, which helped spur the Guardians on throughout their incomprehensible September run, leaves Progressive Field in despair. Vogt is proud of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-rare-history-forcing-game-3-vs-tigers">what his team accomplished</a>, but he is <a href="https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1973877168938590593" rel="noopener">not downplaying the disappointment</a> that permeates the Cleveland clubhouse.</p><p>“That stings,” the second-year skipper told reporters after the season-ending loss, per MLB Network. “It stings for it to end that way…. That’s the message. Let this sting. We’re close, we were really close. We’re not quite there yet. There’s things we need to improve upon… but the overarching theme is I’m so proud of that group for not quitting.”</p><p>Vogt’s message is admirable and characterizes the undying tenacity that has come to characterize this franchise for a decade-plus. But the sad reality of the situation is that this version of the Guardians was not built to go all the way in the playoffs.</p><h2><b>Guardians always had a steep climb </b></h2><p>An elite bullpen can only take a squad so far if it does not have the starting pitching depth or situational hitting prowess to back it up. Cleveland ranked 29th in MLB with a .226 batting average, just one point better than the 72-90 Los Angeles Angels. The Chris Antonetti-led front office did not acquire the necessary reinforcements for this ailing lineup at the trade deadline.</p><p>Heck, this group was essentially a seller, sending former Cy Young <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/blue-jays-news-toronto-shane-bieber-trade-guardians">Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays</a>. That move seemed practical at the time, since Cleveland was just .500 entering August, but this squad needed at least one more dependable starter. Stephen Vogt did not allow Slade Cecconi the chance to fill that role in Thursday’s do-or-die Game 3.</p><p>The 26-year-old righty allowed one run on two hits with one walk while striking out three batters in just 2 1/3 innings of work. He was not incredibly sharp, but perhaps it would have been wiser to extend additional trust rather than relying heavily on the pen yet again.</p><p>Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis surrendered two runs each in the seventh inning, turning a 2-1 deficit into a Tigers runaway. Relievers have a breaking point, and unfortunately, the way this roster is currently constructed hinges on them being extraordinary for a bunch of high-stress games. More than anyone, that predicament falls on the Dolan ownership group.</p><p>A bottom-third payroll is severely limited in this era of baseball. Although those limitations do not always show up in the summer, they tend to be exposed in October.</p><p>Vogt is right. The Guardians achieved a great deal this season. They beat the system once again, but he might be wrong on one crucial point. Despite a couple of correctable mistakes here and there (Jose Ramirez’s base-running blunder in Game 1), is this team close to contending for a title? Neither he nor anyone else wearing that uniform can afford to ask such a question. The fan base will, though.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt’s dejected take after Wild Card loss to Tigers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-chase-delauters-first-mlb-hit-comes-in-game-3-vs-tigers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians’ Chase DeLauter’s first MLB hit comes in Game 3 vs Tigers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Guardians-OF-Chase-DeLauter.jpg?w=1024"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians’ Chase DeLauter’s first MLB hit comes in Game 3 vs Tigers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-02T13:30:08-07:00">October 2nd, 1:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-02T13:30:08-07:00">October 2nd, 1:30pm</time><address><a href="https://linktr.ee/jordan.llanes">Jordan Llanes</a>Jordan Llanes is a sports writer and reporter based in Florida. In addition to ClutchPoints, he writes for a few other publications covering the NFL, college sports and Tottenham Hotspur. When he's not writing, Jordan enjoys spending time with his fiancée, cats, family and friends, as well as catching the latest TV shows and movies, and traveling.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-bryan-rocchio-home-run">Guardians are looking to continue</a> their Game 2 performance during Thursday’s Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers. While rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter did not start Game 2 for the Guardians, he still made an impact in the win. With both AL Central rivals knotted a one game apiece, Thursday’s Game 3 will decide who advances to play the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS. DeLauter is continuing to do his part. The rookie notched his first MLB hit, <a href="https://x.com/MLB/status/1973834616235552990" rel="noopener">a single into right field,</a> during the second inning of Thursday’s Game 3, according to MLB on X, formerly Twitter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chase DeLauter's first Major League hit comes in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Postseason?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Postseason</a>! <a href="https://t.co/KueX0Oh3ef">pic.twitter.com/KueX0Oh3ef</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1973834616235552990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“Chase DeLauter’s first Major League hit comes in the #Postseason!” posted the league’s account on Thursday.</p><p>Despite being tied at 1 with the Tigers, it’s still only the fourth inning. There’s still time for the Guardians’ bats to wake up, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-chase-delauter-must-win-game-2-start-mlb-debut">much like DeLauter’s has.</a> If the rookie can register a couple more knocks, it should help Cleveland’s offense get back to its Game 2 form. If the lineup can do that, then a road trip to Seattle will await the Guards after a Game 3 win. Can the AL Central champions come back and clinch a spot to face their Western counterparts in a few days?</p><h2><b>Can Guardians clinch Wild Card Round Game 3 over Tigers?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Guardians-manager-Stephen-Vogt.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In October, teams need all the help they can get. From any source. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-rare-history-forcing-game-3-vs-tigers">The Guardians have been one</a> of the MLB’s most resourceful teams, finding contributors from all over the major leagues in addition to their minor league system. DeLauter and fellow rookie outfielder George Valera are just two of the latest promotions to make an impact. Now, more will be needed from young players like DeLauter to help Cleveland get back to the ALDS.</p><p>Last season’s run to the ALCS was seen as a surprise by many, including <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-stephen-vogt-100-alcs-second-guessing">some in the Guardians’ fanbase.</a> However, Cleveland’s choice to hire first-time manager Stephen Vogt has paid off. The second-year skipper helped guide his squad back from 15.5 games down in July to win the division. Now, he’ll look to lead them from a 1-0 Wild Card Round deficit to get them back to the heights they reached last October. Can the Guards finish the job and continue to keep their postseason dreams alive?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians’ Chase DeLauter’s first MLB hit comes in Game 3 vs Tigers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-bryan-rocchio-home-run');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Guardians’ Jose Ramirez knew Brayan Rocchio home run was coming');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Brayan-Rocchio-hits-a-home-run-against-Tigers.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Guardians’ Jose Ramirez knew Brayan Rocchio home run was coming</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-02T07:29:51-07:00">October 2nd, 7:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-02T07:34:30-07:00">October 2nd, 7:34am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-aj-hinch-100-real-tough-day-game-2-guardians">Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers</a> 6-1 in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series. Cleveland and Detroit were tied 1-1 for most of the game before the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-rare-history-forcing-game-3-vs-tigers">Guardians’ offense found its rhythm</a> in the 8th inning, ultimately scoring five unanswered runs. Infielder Bryan Rocchio got the scoring started in the inning with a solo home run — something Jose Ramirez <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6681604/2025/10/01/cleveland-guardians-brayan-rocchio-october-pressure/" rel="noopener">reportedly predicted</a>, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic.</p><p>“As Rocchio approached the plate, Ramírez made a prediction to anyone within earshot in the dugout,” Meisel wrote in a recent article. “He called the home run.”</p><p>According to Meisel, Ramirez had previously told Rocchio to treat Tigers relief pitcher Troy Melton’s cutter as if it is a fastball as opposed to a slider. Rocchio was clearly ready for the pitch, sending it into the bleachers at Progressive Field.</p><p>Video via MLB:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">BRAYAN ROCCHIO<a href="https://twitter.com/CleGuardians?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CLEGUARDIANS</a> LEAD IN THE 8TH! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/POSTSEASON?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#POSTSEASON</a> <a href="https://t.co/CQCruErNr3">pic.twitter.com/CQCruErNr3</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1973476313014087834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The home run kicked off a huge inning, one that later saw Bo Naylor also smash a home run. The inning changed the momentum of the series. Before Rocchio’s home run, the Guardians’ offense had struggled to find any kind of rhythm. They struggled in Game 1 and for most of Game 2.</p><p>Perhaps Wednesday’s 8th inning outburst will carry over into Thursday’s crucial Game 3. The winner of the contest will advance to the American League Division Series to play the Seattle Mariners.</p><p>Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 3:08 PM EST in Cleveland at Progressive Field. Jose Ramirez, Bryan Rocchio and the Guardians will look to take care of business and clinch a series victory against their American League Central rival.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Guardians’ Jose Ramirez knew Brayan Rocchio home run was coming

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/mlb-stories/mlb-news-thursdays-set-game-3s-very-rare-baseball-history');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thursday’s set of Game 3s is very rare in MLB history');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Yankees-catcher-Austin-Wells-28-celebrates-his-RBI-single-against-the-Boston-Red-Sox.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thursday’s set of Game 3s is very rare in MLB history</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-01T23:38:34-07:00">October 1st, 11:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-01T23:38:34-07:00">October 1st, 11:38pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Boston Red Sox</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Through two days of the MLB Wild Card Round in the 2025 playoffs, only one team has clinched a spot in the next phase, and that’s the Los Angeles Dodgers,<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-roki-sasaki-finishes-reds-1-2-3-9th-sets-phillies-clash"> who took care of business against the Cincinnati Reds</a>. While the Dodgers are already on their way to a date in the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, <a href="https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/1973601675597271201" rel="noopener">six other teams will be fighting for survival</a> in winner-take-all games this Thursday.</p><p>It will just be the second time in the history of the big leagues that there will be not just one, not two, but three deciding MLB playoff games on the same day, as pointed out by Jeff Passan of ESPN.</p><p>The action starts at 3 p.m. EST, with the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians going at it at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The Tiges will have Jack Flaherty on the mound, while the Guardians will send Slade Cecconi to the bump. Detroit took Game 1 of the series, 2-1, before Cleveland leveled things up with a 6-1 victory on Wednesday.</p><p>At 5 p.m. EST, the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs will start the third game of their series, which has been very competitive. Chicago got the win in Game 1, 3-1, but San Diego answered right back under duress in Game 2 on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory. This Game 3 at Wrigley Field will have a starting pitching matchup featuring Jameson Taillon of the Cubs and Yu Darvish, who is a former Cub ace, of the Padres.</p><p>The last matchup for Thursday features fierce rivals Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Yankees lived to fight another day after coming away with a 4-3 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Red Sox took the series opener on Tuesday, 3-1. Adding flavor to this rivalry matchup is the two young starting pitchers slated to take the mound. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/red-sox-news-connelly-early-game-3-start">The Red Sox will give the ball to 23-year-old rookie Connelly Early</a>, while the Yankees will have another rookie, Cam Schlittler, toeing the rubber.</p><p>At the end of Thursday, the cast of teams in the divisional round, where the Dodgers, Phillies, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers are ready to go, will be complete,</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thursday’s set of Game 3s is very rare in MLB history

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-aj-hinch-riley-greene-game-2');   ga('set', 'title', 'Tigers manager AJ Hinch clarifies Game 2 decision ‘not a knock’ on Riley Greene');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AJ-Hinch-clarifies-Game-2-decision-not-a-knock-on-Riley-Greene.jpg"><figcaption>© Evan Petzold / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.</figcaption></figure><h1>Tigers manager AJ Hinch clarifies Game 2 decision ‘not a knock’ on Riley Greene</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-01T21:14:58-07:00">October 1st, 9:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-01T21:14:58-07:00">October 1st, 9:14pm</time><address><a>Josh Davis</a>Josh Davis is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints with a focus on MLB. As the founder and creator of OutOfSightSports, Josh spearheads the development and expansion of an engaging social media platform, with a core focus on Twitter/X. A passionate sports writer, Josh is dedicated to delivering compelling content that connects fans and fuels vibrant sports conversations. His vision is to craft stories so vivid that fans feel like they’re standing at the plate or on the field.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Detroit Tigers find themselves facing elimination after a Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, but much of the postgame conversation centered on <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-aj-hinch-100-real-tough-day-game-2-guardians">manager AJ Hinch</a> and his decision to pinch-hit for Riley Greene in the seventh inning. Hinch clarified afterward that the call was based on matchups and not a slight toward his star outfielder. Hinch turned to right fielder Jahmai Jones, a 28-year-old who hit .287 this season in 129 at-bats, to take the at-bat in the situation.</p><p>WXYZ Detroit’s Brad Galli took to X (formerly known as Twitter), sharing a video of Hinch <a href="https://x.com/BradGalli/status/1973510089261851045" rel="noopener">explaining his decision</a> in the Game 2 postgame press conference.</p><p>“The pinch hit was really more about Jahmai Jones,” AJ Hinch said. “It was not a knock on Riley… it’s a competition, one-on-one, and they won a lot of them.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tigers manager AJ Hinch explained his decision to pinch-hit for Riley Greene, choosing Jahmai Jones instead.</p><p>"The pinch hit was really more about Jahmai Jones," he said. "It was not a knock on Riley… it's a competition, one-on-one, and they won a lot of them." <a href="https://t.co/iKc8c6s3cU">pic.twitter.com/iKc8c6s3cU</a></p><p>— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradGalli/status/1973510089261851045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At the time, the score was tied 1-1 with runners on the corners. The former Houston Astros manager sent up Jones, who struck out, before Andy Ibanez flied out to end the seventh-inning threat. The Guardians seized control in the eighth and went on to win 6-1, evening the AL Wild Card series at one game apiece heading into a decisive Game 3.</p><p>Statistically, the move reflected the manager’s reputation for analytical thinking. Greene has struggled at times against left-handed pitching, but his overall production was undeniable. He hit .258 with 155 hits, 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, and 84 runs scored across 157 games this season. Jones, meanwhile, posted a .287 average with 37 hits, 7 homers, 23 RBIs, and 21 runs scored in 72 games. He also entered October on a hot streak, hitting .424 with 14 hits, 3 homers, 8 RBIs, and 10 runs scored in 18 games in September. Still, Greene remains the club’s most dangerous overall bat, and that context made the decision to lift him in a crucial spot all the more debated.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/detroit-tigers/tigers-news-a-j-hinch-drops-focus-take-amid-15-5-game-al-central-collapse">Reaction to Hinch’s call was mixed</a>. Some fans defended the matchup-based reasoning, while others criticized the decision as over-managing in a critical spot. The Tigers lineup decisions have faced criticism all season, especially after the team squandered a 15.5-game division lead. That collapse allowed the Guardians to storm back and capture the AL Central, adding even more pressure on every managerial move as the series now comes down to a decisive Game 3.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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