Cleveland may be a football town, but the scuffling Browns are a tough watch for fans, while the Guardians are a pleasant surprise in baseball's postseason. In a city where the teams tend to compete for attention and dollars, our sports commentator Terry Pluto says the choice is clear for fan enjoyment; Tune in to a tight series between division rivals.
The Guardians won the first game of the series 7-0, jumping out to the lead early thanks to a Lane Thomas three-run home run.
In Game 2, the Guardians' Matthew Boyd completed 4 2/3 scoreless innings before handing it over to the best bullpen in baseball.
The Tigers' Kerry Carpenter beat the best reliever in baseball, Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase, to hit a 3-run homer in the 9th inning for a 3-0 Detroit win.
The Guardians couldn't muster any offense off Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who's a safe bet to win the AL Cy Young Award this year.
"My guess, and I really believe even the Guardians themselves sort of thought this, that they looked at the schedule and they saw who was pitching in the first two games," Pluto said. "The second game the Tigers were using Tarik Skubal, who is probably the best pitcher in all of baseball, and the likelihood would be, if the Guardians were going to lose a game at home, that would be the one because he beats about everyone."
Pluto said he knew it would be a competitive series.
"The Tigers are a good team," Pluto said. "They snuck up on everyone because they started playing on about August 10, and since then I believe they've won 35 games and they've lost 14. Should be no surprise that this is going to be a compelling series and a tough one for Cleveland."
Pluto believes the Guardians will have a better chance of winning the next two games in Detroit simply because Skubal won't be pitching.
"They're not going to see him probably until unless there's a game five," Pluto said. "Remember, this is the best-of-five series. First team to win three games moves on," Pluto said.
While Skubal was flawless, the Guardians' stellar closer, Emmanuel Clase, gave up the three-run homer in the 9th inning on Monday.
"It was the first time he gave up a three-run homer in his career," Pluto said. "He just had a bad day. I expect him to bounce back."
Pluto said his email inbox has been filled up this week with angry and frustrated Browns fans, following the team's third straight loss. He said the ratio of emails about the Browns compared to the Guardians is about 10 to 1.
"I know Cleveland is a football town," Pluto said. "I get it. But right now, the Browns are 1-4 and they're terrible. And the Guardians have been one of the biggest, most pleasant, fun surprises in all of baseball."
He encourages fans to take a break from the Browns.
"I just think some of the Northeast Ohio fans of sports, you're missing a fun story here with Cleveland and a fun story with Detroit," Pluto said. "Detroit has not had a playoff game at home since 2013... It's your neighbor up North. If you want to get into the Ohio-Michigan thing, you got all that. This is compelling stuff."
As for the Browns, Pluto said he's not sure what will turn their season around.
"I mean, you could bench to Deshaun Watson, maybe that helps, maybe it doesn't," Pluto said. "But their body language, their attention span, their focus, it was embarrassingly bad."
And he doesn't believe the coach is to blame.
"Kevin Stefanski is a two-time NFL coach of the year, but it's really, something funky going on there," Pluto said. "It's going to take a while to fix it."
And he adds it's painful for fans to watch former quarterback Joe Flacco throw for around 350 yards with Indianapolis and former running back Kareem Hunt runs for 100 yards with Kansas City.
"So, Browns fans, I know you're pounding your head against the wall," Pluto said. "That's what I'm saying. Get away from that wall. Turn on your TV set. Watch some baseball."
