CLEVELAND, Ohio — Slowly but surely the Emmanuel Clase situation is bubbling to the surface.
After pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a 5-4 win over Boston in the first game of Saturday’s day-night doubleheader, Clase told reporters that his right shoulder has been bothering him since spring training.
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He said it flared again during the second series of the season against the Padres and again after throwing 30 pitches against the Pirates on April 20.
Clase blew his second save of the season against the Pirates and decided to tell the Guardians that his shoulder wasn’t feeling right. The Guardians gave the man who saved 47 games in 50 chances last year five days off before inserting him into Saturday’s game.
He retired three straight Red Sox to clear the decks for Cade Smith in the ninth. Manager Stephen Vogt says Clase is still Cleveland’s closer, but Smith has converted the last three save situations.
“They let me know before the game that I was going to pitch the seventh or eighth inning,” said Clase, through interpreter/coach Agustin Rivero. “For me it was good to have that plan and I think it was a good way to get back into competition, right? Not just get into the high leverage situation.”
Said Vogt, “He’s going right back into the closer’s role.”
Vogt told reporters before the doubleheader that they didn’t want to put Clase back in the closer’s role right away after he hadn’t pitched for five days. Clase agreed with the move and said the rest agreed with him.
“The rest and the work I was able to do in the trainer’s room for a proper recovery worked very well,” he said.
Good instincts
The Guardians’ winning run in the first game of Saturday’s day-night doubleheader against Boston came on a bloop hit in the sixth inning off the bat of Steven Kwan.
The bloop single tipped off the end of shortstop Troy Story’s glove as Will Wilson scored from third base. It was a daring piece of baserunning because Story almost made a great catch.
“Ruggie (third base coach Rouglas Odor) was talking to me saying, ‘See it, see it, see it.’” said Wilson. “It’s just instinctual at that point. You train your whole life to play this game. That’s just one of those moments where it just happens.”
Wilson said he wasn’t overly aggressive when he left third.
“I think right there, with one out and a runner on third, you want to take your shot,” said Wilson. “With him (Story) running the way he was running, I was confident I could get back if he caught it.
“It was a good spot to make a read from.”
Sign of the times
Ben Lively said Boston third base coach Kyle Hudson may have been relaying pitches to Red Sox hitters during the first game.
“They had something,” said Lively.
The Red Sox jumped Lively for three runs in the first inning, but the Guardians punched back for four runs in their half of the first.
Lively didn’t know if he was tipping his pitches or not, but said he made changes between innings. After allowing three runs in the first, he allowed one over the next four.
“They were doing the same thing to Timmy (Herrin) when he came in,” said Lively. “I was yelling at him from the dugout.”
Hudson was the Guardians’ outfield coach before joining the Red Sox.
Finally
Jose Ramirez, with two hits in Game 1, has hits in 10 of his last 13 games ... Kwan had two hits as well for his 10th multi-hit game of the season. Kwan has hit in eighth straight games ...
Hunter Gaddis entered the seventh with a runner on first and the Guardians leading, 5-4, to face the heart of Boston’s lineup. He struck out Alex Bregman, popped up Story and struck out Wilyer Abreu to end the inning. “That’s the first time Hunter has had his changeup,” said Vogt. “When he can add that third pitch with the fastball-slider combo (he’s hard to beat).” ...
Kwan and Carlos Santana received their Gold Gloves from Rawlings before the second game Saturday night. Kwan has won three straight Gold Gloves for his play in left field. Santana won a Gold Glove with the Twins last year for his play at first base.