Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase isn't likely to show Tigers many more sliders

Stephen Vogt wasn't deterred.

Three days after the Cleveland Guardians manager took some heat for trying to get four outs from closer Emmanuel Clase, only to watch him cough up the winning, three-run homer to Kerry Carpenter, Vogt went right back to his fire-breathing fireballer, and asked him to get five outs in Game 4.

In Game 4, it worked, as Clase closed out the Guardians' 5-4 win over the Tigers on Thursday night, sending the American League Division Series back to Cleveland for Saturday's winner-take-all Game 5.

"Obviously, it's win or go home," Vogt said Thursday night. "You want your best pitchers out there as long as possible. … We had talked about before the game Emmanuel getting four or five outs if we needed that, and we did. And he was outstanding.

"He had the blip the other day, and he's going to get way too much negative publicity for that because that was one blip on the radar of a historic season that he's put together. And (Thursday) was another story of that."

Clase entered Game 4 with one out in the eighth inning, with two men on, and the Guardians leading, 4-3.

He quickly got Zach McKinstry to ground out to second for the second out, and then struck out Trey Sweeney swinging at a 100-mph fastball to end the inning. Interestingly, lefty Tim Herrin was pitching the eighth when Vogt went to Clase, choosing that over the left-on-left matchup against McKinstry.

Clase was happy to get the call, just as he knew he would, after Carpenter tattooed a hanging slider for the three-home homer in the ninth inning of the Tigers' Game 2 win.

"A lot of strong emotions, getting back to this game," Clase said. "I was really excited to get to the mound, especially getting the trust back from the manager to get me in that role and that responsibility.

"I was really excited to be there and comfortable for my team."

Clase, who could finish second to Detroit's Tarik Skubal in the AL Cy Young voting this year, sure looked comfortable, especially with the fastball.

Of the 16 pitches he threw in Game 4, 15 of them were fastballs and 10 of them registered at 100 mph or faster. The only slider he threw was a ball to Justyn-Henry Malloy, who tagged the next pitch for a leadoff double in the ninth inning. Clase threw fastballs exclusively from there to the finish line.

"They were really coming after the fastball and getting ready for the slider, as well, because of the results they got the previous game," Clase said. "And I gotta keep trusting my best pitch, and that's why I was trying to execute the cutter as much as needed."

After the Malloy double, Clase got Parker Meadows to ground out to second, moving Malloy over to third. Malloy scored on Jace Jung's grounder to second to make it 5-4, but that emptied the bases.

Matt Vierling then struck out swinging to end the game. He saw four cut fastballs, all at 100 mph or faster.

It's worth noting that the Tigers have scored four runs off Clase in this series, all over his last two outings. He only allowed five earned runs during the entire regular season, to go with his 0.61 ERA and 0.659 WHIP. The Tigers have scored 10 runs in the series, and four have been off Clase. But he still closed out Game 4, keeping the Guardians' season alive, and that's all he really cares about. With the off-day Friday, he'll be plenty rested to go again in the winner-take-all Game 5, which starts at 1:08 p.m. Saturday at Progressive Field.

"The thing I love about Emmanuel is he doesn't care if they score," Vogt said. "He just wants to get the win. He doesn't care when he pitches, he just wants to pitch. He's done that for us all year. Up eight, tied, down, it doesn't matter. He just wants to pitch, and he's been outstanding all year."