The Cleveland Guardians need to find wins in order to survive in the Major League Baseball Playoffs. Cleveland is down 2-0 in their American League Division Series with the Chicago White Sox. Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams is making a bold statement ahead of Game 3.
“I’d go out of the pen in Game 3 if I got to,” Williams said, per 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.
During the regular season, Williams posted a 3.76 ERA with 14 victories. In the postseason, he has a 3.60 ERA in his one game appearance.
Cleveland dropped their first two contests against the White Sox, and now faces elimination. The team must start winning beginning in Game 3. That contest is on Wednesday.
“You don't want to be in this position,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said, per MLB.com. “I am not going to sugarcoat it. We've backed ourselves into a corner. We know that.”
The Guardians finished the regular season first in the American League Central, one game ahead of Chicago.
Guardians don't have history on their side in the ALDS
Cleveland has their backs against the wall moving forward. History has not looked kindly to teams in this position.
“In all best-of-five postseason series, teams with a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 83 of 93 times (89%). Those that have won the first two games on the road in Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format have gone on to win the series 17 of 19 times (also 89%),” MLB.com reported.
The Guardians though are refusing to give up.
“We’ve got to go out and win a ballgame. There's no other way around it,” Cleveland outfielder Jo Adell said. “We’ve got to win every game we play, and we're capable of that.”
Time will tell if the Guardians can fight back and take this series. The other ALDS pits the Tampa Bay Rays against the New York Yankees. Tampa leads that series, 2-0, after winning on Monday night.