Perfect Bullpen Performance Propels Guardians To Win Over Mets

The Guardians turned to Junis to get the final two outs of the eighth inning, and he did just that while throwing only four pitches. 

Finally, in the ninth inning, Cleveland called on their newly appointed closer, Cade Smith, to shut the book on the Mets. Smith had pitched 3.1 innings over the last three days, so it would’ve been understandable if he showed some signs of fatigue.

However, the hard-throwing right-hander did what he’s done all year and got all three outs without allowing a hit or issuing a run.

For those keeping track, yes, the Guardians' bullpen, with multiple pitchers on short rest, pitched 4.0 percent innings of work to secure a victory and a series win against one of the best lineups in baseball. 

A very nonchalant Cade emphasized after the game that everyone in the bullpen is ready to pitch whenever the phone is called in whatever scenario.

“It's huge, knowing that we got a bullpen full of guys who are willing to step up and go out and compete and leave it all, you know, on the field between lines when their name is called. Like, that is a huge, huge part of that culture down in the bullpen and everybody's ready to go to pull their own weight and to contribute as best we can,” said Smith after the win. 

Manager Stephen Vogt echoed a similar sentiment to Smith. 

“That's exactly why we use all eight [bullpen pitchers] in all situations, because you're gonna have nights like this where you've got, you know, your typical leverage guys are down, and to see Matt Festa, Kolby Allard, Jakob Junis, and Cade Smith do what they did to this lineup, it was a super impressive and a great night for the bullpen,” explained Cleveland’s skipper. 

Once again, the Guardians' bullpen proved that if you can hand them a lead, no matter what inning it is, the team has a chance to win that game. And that’s a great feeling to have in the locker room and dugout.

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