Emmanuel Clase has not looked like his normal self during the 2024 playoffs.
The All-Star closer surrendered the two game-winning runs in the ninth inning in Game 4 of the ALCS Friday night, giving the New York Yankees an 8-6 victory and a 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
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A night earlier, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back home runs off of Clase in the eighth inning of Game 3 to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Jhonkensy Noel’s ninth-inning game-tying home run and David Fry’s 10th-inning walk-off moonshot to give the Guardians a 7-5 victory shielded Clase from further misery.
Clase has allowed eight earned runs in seven innings this postseason. He allowed five earned runs in 74 ⅓ innings in the regular season. Clase had a 0.61 ERA, the best among all closers in the majors during the regular season. In the playoffs, the 26-year-old’s ERA is 10.29. He has surrendered three home runs in the postseason, one more than he did the entire regular season.