After quick hook, Guardians can’t rally in Game 2 loss

NEW YORK -- All Tanner Bibee could do was shake his head and smile to hide the internal frustration that was clearly bubbling over.

This wasn’t how he expected his third postseason start to go. He was confident he was building for his best outing yet, but instead, he was walking off the mound in the second inning, leaving the bases loaded behind him. Bibee was charged with three runs (two earned), which was enough to create a deficit his offense couldn’t overcome.

The Guardians fell, 6-3, to the Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night to go down 2-0 in the series. In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams taking a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 76 of 91 times (84%). The most recent of the 15 comebacks in those situations occurred in last year’s NLCS, when the D-backs rallied against the Phillies. Under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning the first two games at home have gone on to take the series 44 of 55 times (80%).

Bibee wanted the chance to get out of the situation he worked himself into. He wanted the chance to spell the bullpen for at least a few more innings, considering the relief corps has covered 15 1/3 more innings than the rotation this postseason. But manager Stephen Vogt didn’t want to take any chances.

“It’s tough,” Bibee said. “Obviously you don’t want to go out like that, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

A dropped pop-up by Brayan Rocchio in the first inning led to an unearned run. Two singles and a double to lead off the second inning led to another run. After an out and an intentional walk to Juan Soto, Vogt chose to turn to his biggest weapon to face Aaron Judge with the bases loaded: Cade Smith.

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It makes sense. Smith has been nearly untouchable this postseason. In eight innings, he’s been charged with one run and has given up just two hits -- none of which came against the Yankees in 1 2/3 frames on Tuesday. It worked for the moment, although the offense just couldn’t get the timely hit to start a rally no matter how Vogt lined up his relievers or which pinch-hitter he turned to.

Now, the rotation has turned in four straight starts of fewer than three innings. So, what does that mean going forward?

It hasn’t been announced yet, but all signs are leading to Matthew Boyd being lined up to start Game 3. Boyd lasted only two innings last time out, although the Guardians were trying to be ultra aggressive in a winner-take-all Game 5 against the Tigers. This time (and moving forward), they’ll need more innings out of their starter so that the bullpen can handle a heavy workload for three straight games without a day off.

“These guys have pitched a lot all year,” Vogt said. “We didn't overextend anyone today. We didn't overextend anyone yesterday. So with the off-day, our bullpen should be right back to full strength [for Game 3].”

First step, Boyd will need to get past the third inning. Then, all eyes turn to Gavin Williams, who could make his playoff debut on Friday in Game 4. He’ll need to try to eat up frames after having gone since Sept. 27 without pitching in a game, which won’t be an easy task against this Yankees lineup.

But maybe all of this has a silver lining. It seemed like Ben Lively would be the one to start a potential Game 5 after he was left off of the ALDS and ALCS rosters, but was added on Tuesday to replace an injured Alex Cobb. However, Vogt said Bibee could be back in the mix after throwing just 39 pitches in Game 2, which -- despite his rocky performance on Tuesday -- would be the best-case scenario for the Guardians with their backs against the wall later in the series.

The Guardians don’t have a crystal ball, so they don’t know how this will play out. But the one thing they can be certain of is that they’ll need their starters to handle a few more innings to keep this bullpen sharp. It’s the only way they’ll be able to have a chance at ending the franchise's 76-year World Series title drought.

“At the beginning of the year, in a lot of people’s eyes, we weren’t supposed to be here, but we’ve always known we’re supposed to be here,” Bibee said. “That doesn’t change just because we’re down two games. There’s a reason it’s a seven-game series.”