Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ramírez puts Guardians up
CLEVELAND — The Guardians were certain of two things: José Ramírez would deliver, and Amed Rosario touched second base. They were right. Ramírez connected for a two-run homer, Shane Bieber dominated the Rays for 7 ⅔ innings and the young Guardians played with poise in their postseason debut, beating the Rays 2-1 in the wild-card opener on Friday.
Ramírez’s shot off the Rays’ Shane McClanahan in the sixth inning — the Rays initially appealed whether Rosario stepped on second — helped the Guardians end an eightgame postseason losing streak and left baseball’s youngest team one win from advancing in its first season as the Guardians.
Though short on experience, the Guardians seem to have everything else.
“At this point we’re dealing with what we got in that clubhouse,” Bieber said, brushing off the team’s youth. “And that’s a winning ballclub.”
Bieber, rocked in his only other playoff appearance two years ago by the Yankees, was spectacular, allowing just three hits and striking out eight before being lifted the eighth to a thunderous ovation.
Emmanuel Clase took it from there, getting four outs for his first postseason save and finishing a game that took just 2 hours, 17 minutes — the fastest in the postseason since 1999 and Cleveland’s quickest since its World Series-clinching win in 1948.
Jose Siri homered for the Rays, who dropped their sixth straight game overall and turn to starter Tyler Glasnow in Game 2 on Saturday to keep their season alive. The series winner plays the AL East champion Yankees in the Division Series starting Tuesday in the Bronx.
Phillies shock Cards: The Phillies showcased plenty of plucky resilience all season, bouncing back from a poor start and the firing of their manager to qualify for the postseason for the first time in more than a decade.
It was going to take more than a two-run deficit in the ninth inning Friday to keep them down.
Even against the playoff-tested Cardinals.
The Phillies rallied for six runs in the ninth, silencing a sellout crowd at Busch Stadium and sending Jean Segura and the Phillies to a 6-3 victory in the opening game of their National League wild-card series.
It was the first time in 94 postseason games that the Cardinals, an 11-time World Series champion, had blown a lead of at least two runs going into the final frame, according to Sportradar.
“It’s what we do. We fight,” said Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm.
Mariners shut out Jays: Luis Castillo and Andrés Muñoz combined on a shutout, Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer and the Mariners won in their first postseason game since 2001, beating the Blue Jays 4-0 Friday in their AL wild-card series opener.
Eugenio Suárez had two hits and two RBIs and rookie Julio Rodríguez reached base three times and scored twice for the Mariners, who can wrap up the series with a win in Game 2 on Saturday.
The series winner plays AL West champion Astros in the Division Series starting Tuesday in Texas.