Stephen Vogt picked the wrong time to risk defense for a chance to score against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians loaded their lineup with right-handed bats in an effort to find any sort of advantage against Detroit ace Tarik Skubal on Tuesday in Game 1 of their wild card series at Progressive Field.
But what Guardians manager Stephen Vogt wagered in offensive potential backfired with a pair of costly defensive miscues that proved to be the difference in walking out of the ballpark facing an 0-1 deficit and possible elimination on Wednesday in their best-of-three series.What Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after Detroit’s 2-1 win against Cleveland in AL wild card Game 1: Transcript. “The way Tarik Skubal threw the ball tonight, I don’t know if anybody scores off of him. He was absolutely outstanding.”and Guardians hitters struggled to get anything going against the Cy Young Award-winning lefty. The right-handed batters Vogt specifically inserted into the lineup came up empty as Saturday’s unexpected hero Johnathan Rodriguez went hitless with a pair of strikeouts in three at-bats, and Jhonkensy Noel whiffed three times in three trips to the plate. But the lack of production from Rodriguez and Noel at the plate did not hurt Cleveland on Tuesday as much as their play in the field. Rodriguez committed a costly error in the first inning on Kerry Carpenter’s one-out single to right that kicked off his glove, allowing Carpenter to advance to second base. Two pitches later, Spencer Torkelson dumped a base hit into left field and the Tigers had an early 1-0 lead. After Cleveland rallied to tie the score in the fourth, it was Noel’s turn to make an untimely error. Riley Greene doubled to start the seventh and Wenceel Perez banged a grounder that deflected off the glove of a diving Noel at first. The ball caromed to Brayan Rocchio at second, and Noel still had a chance to retire Perez as he scrambled back to first base to take Rocchio’s throw. But Noel was unable to find the bag with his right foot, stepping over first base as both runners were safe and the Tigers had runners on the corners with nobody out. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch pulled off a squeeze bunt to get Greene home from third, giving Detroit a 2-1 advantage that they would not surrender. Vogt said Rodriguez’s mistake was compounded by the fact that Cleveland’s offense struggled against Skubal. “You can’t give the extra 90 feet there,” Vogt said. “But it happens, and we just couldn’t get anything going off Tarik.” Rodriguez, who committed three fielding errors in a space of two games against Toronto and St. Louis before being optioned to Triple-A back in June, described his mistake as a “mental error.” “I just didn’t want the runner to advance, and I got a little sped up,” Rodriguez said via Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero. “It’s just a mental error from my end.” Noel, who homered two weeks ago against Skubal as the Guardians completed a three-game sweep in Detroit, has played solid defense at first base in limited opportunities since returning to the big league roster. He said things happened fast on the play. “Obviously everything went a little fast and then when I tried to step, I was a little over the base,” Noel said via Rivero. Vogt said striking a balance between the power that Noel and Rodriguez can provide and what their limits are defensively is always a struggle with a pitcher of Skubal’s caliber on the mound. “We need to score,” Vogt said. “It was a mistake. It was a play that didn’t get made. We balance defense with offense all the time. When you’re facing Tarik Skubal, you have to score.”“We’re going to bounce back,” Vogt said. “We’ve done it all year. We love having our backs against the wall. We’ll come out ready and hungry tomorrow and ready to take one.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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