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How the Guardians made history with pitching outings from Triston McKenzie, bullpen

Triston McKenzie
Triston McKenzie
Posted at 11:05 PM, Oct 08, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-09 10:18:23-04

CLEVELAND — Triston McKenzie started on the mound for the Cleveland Guardians Saturday afternoon after seeing Shane Bieber have a remarkable outing the day before. That was something McKenzie wanted to be able to replicate, and with a standout outing and support from the bullpen, the pitching not only helped the Guardians win the game and send them to the American League Division Series—it made history.

McKenzie's six innings with no runs allowed made him the youngest Cleveland player in postseason history to throw that many shutout frames.

His entire day on the mound accounted for just two hits and two walks with an impressive eight strikeouts.

“Very happy, very happy," McKenzie said, laughing while getting doused in alcohol in the clubhouse after the big win. “I talked to Bieber a little bit about his start yesterday and how he was able to go out there and perform and I just tried to duplicate it."

The outing was one to be remembered, but the bullpen also helped the Guardians make history in other ways Saturday.

Between James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Emmanuel Clase, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan, Enyel De Los Santos and Sam Hentges—the Guardians pitching staff came in after McKenzie's six innings were over and kept the shutout going.

Hentges took the last three innings and made them count, giving up three hits but striking out six batters while keeping the Rays from scoring.

"It was a long game, it was a lot of fun. It was fun to watch everybody come out of the pen and do their job and when my name was called upon I just wanted to go out there and do the same," Hentges said at the podium after the win.

His skipper, Terry Francona, was proud of the effort from him, the rest of the bullpen and of course, McKenzie.

"I was proud of the effort. Hentges going out there for parts of three innings and guys dug deep and made pitches and made plays and it ended up being enough. It was tough but it was enough," Francona said.

The Rays had their share of solid pitching as well, with both teams dealing at the mound all day. The matchup proved to be fairly equal with 15 scoreless innings. It was a pitching masterclass from both teams. In fact, both teams helped make history again as the game became the first in MLB postseason history to go 14 or more innings scoreless.

In the end, Oscar González's walk-off home run ended the day's stalwart pitching and advanced the Guardians to the ALDS—but as they prepare to take on the Yankees in New York, the efforts from McKenzie and the bullpen will be something the team looks to build on as they keep their young sights set on proving doubters wrong.

"We got more baseball in the future but I think everyone’s just trying to enjoy the moment. It was a big series win for us and moving forward we’re just going to try and keep this energy," McKenzie said.

Camryn Justice is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.

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