Kevin Cash might be the only manager in baseball who gets haunted for taking a pitcher OUT of a playoff game and now has to answer for leaving one IN.
The Guardians just beat the Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the ALCS, and this is a pretty hilarious full-circle moment.
Remember the 2020 World Series? Cash pulled Blake Snell after just 73 pitches while he was dealing, the Dodgers took the lead, and baseball fans have been screaming about that decision for SIX YEARS.
Well, Drew Rasmussen was at 90 pitches through six innings with Tampa leading 2-1. Cash sends him back out for the seventh.. Patrick Bailey takes the FIRST pitch 436 feet to tie the game.
And Cleveland wasn’t finished making Tampa’s decisions hurt.
In the eighth, the Rays bring in lefty Ian Seymour to face lefty Nathaniel Lowe. Good matchup on paper, right? Lowe falls behind 0-2 and rips a two-run single to give Cleveland the lead.
Oh, and Lowe started his MLB career WITH THE RAYS. That’s gotta sting a little extra.
I can’t even say Cash made some unbelievably stupid decision here. Rasmussen had been pitching well, and bringing in a lefty to face Lowe makes sense. Cleveland just beat both decisions.
The Rays won 98 games and swept the Yankees. Meanwhile, Cleveland was down 0-2 to the White Sox in the last round and now has FOUR straight postseason wins and home-field advantage in the ALCS.
Six years ago, everybody wanted Cash to trust his starter. This time he did.. and Cleveland STILL found a way to make him regret it.
Baseball is a cruel sport sometimes.
