'He proved he's human': Rare blown save by Emmanuel Clase gives Guardians a loss to Royals

Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase entered Wednesday with a streak of 25 consecutive converted saves.

A blown save is always a possibility, but with the way Clase, an all-star right-hander, has been pitching it seemed more likely that we would extend his streak the next time he took the mound.

Instead, Clase struggled with the command of his pitches on Wednesday and was unable to protect a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning and the host Kansas City Royals rallied for a 2-1 win over the first-place Guardians.

Clase entered Wednesday’s game with 31 saves, tied for first in the American League with Liam Hendriks of the Chicago White Sox and Jordan Romano of the Toronto Blue Jays, and one behind National League leader Kenley Jansen of the Atlanta Braves.

Clase walked three (one intentional), and allowed one hit and two earned runs to drop his record 2-4 and get his third blown save.

“He just lost the plate early and proved he’s human,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said via a Zoom video call.

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Despite the loss, the Guardians remained two games ahead of the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox in the American League Central Division standings.

Clase walked Kyle Isbel and Drew Waters to begin the bottom of the ninth. Nicky Lopez laid down a bunt to advance Isbel to third, but Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez threw the ball to shortstop Amed Rosario to force out Waters at second base.

MJ Melendez followed with a one-out single to center field to score Isbel and advance Lopez to third base. Clase then intentionally walked Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to Myles Straw in center field to score Lopez.

“It’s been a long time since something like that’s happened,” Francona said of Clase. “He kind of tried to fight his way back, but 1-0 is a hard way to win. We walked some other guys too and it finally ended up kind of biting us in the end.”

Clase was tagged with his first blown save since May 9 against the Chicago White Sox in a game that the Guardians won 12-9 in 11 innings. Josh Naylor hit a double, two home runs and had eight RBI in that victory.

Wednesday’s outing was the first time Clase walked two or more batters since July 3 at home against the New York Yankees in a 2-0 win. Clase earned a save in that victory after Triston McKenzie pitched seven scoreless innings and former Guardian Franmil Reyes hit a solo home run and an RBI single.

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Clase’s rough outing Wednesday overshadowed the performances of starting pitcher Cody Morris and relievers Sam Hentges, Enyel De Los Santos, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan and Bryan Shaw.

Morris pitched four shutout innings in his second MLB start. He struck out two, walked one and allowed three hits in 61 pitches.

“He was able to use his change-up,” Francona said of Morris. “He probably could have gone farther. I just thought with the way the lineup was set up, it was a good time to get him out of there. I thought he did very well.”

The Guardians bullpen entered Wednesday with a combined 1.95 ERA in the second half of the season, the best in all of MLB.

Hentges worked the fifth inning and has allowed just one earned run in his past 20⅔ innings.

De Los Santos, Karinchak and Shaw each recorded two outs. Karinchak walked three, but Stephan got out of a jam and got three outs.

Karinchak has 23 consecutive scoreless appearances.

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Zack Greinke limits Guardians to one run

The Guardians only run came in the top of the fourth off of Royals starter Zack Greinke. Oscar Gonzalez hit a double, advanced to third base when Andres Gimenez grounded out and scored when Owen Miller hit an RBI single.

Greinke pitched six innings, striking out two and allowing six hits, one earned run and one walk. Royals relievers Collin Snider, Dylan Coleman and Scott Barlow each pitched a scoreless inning. Barlow got the win and upped his record to 6-4.

“We haven’t been scoring in bunches, really, so we know we have to fight for everything we get,” Francona said. “Greinke does such a good job of controlling the running game, fielding his position and things like that, so you are going to have to get hits to beat him because he does so many things so fundamentally well.”

Updates on Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac

Guardians right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale, who is on the injured list with a right wrist strain, threw for the third day in a row on Wednesday.

Francona said Civale is increasing the intensity each day. He is set to throw a long-toss session on Thursday and a bullpen on Friday.

Francona said that right-hander Zach Plesac, on the IL with a fracture of his fifth metacarpel bone on his right hand, had another exam, but there is no timetable for his return.

Minnesota Twins up next

Thursday was an off day for the Guardians ahead of a weekend series in Minnesota against the Twins, who were scheduled to finish a series in New York on Thursday against the Yankees.

The Yankees swept a doubleheader over the Twins on Wednesday.

The Guardians' probable starters against the Twins are Cal Quantrill (11-5, 3.55 ERA) on Friday, Triston McKenzie (9-11, 3.18 ERA) on Saturday and Shane Bieber (9-8, 2.96 ERA) on Sunday.

The Twins' probable starters against the Guardians are Dylan Bundy (8-6, 4.34 ERA) on Friday, Chris Archer (2-7, 4.47 ERA) on Saturday and to be determined on Sunday.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

Guardians at Twins

Time: 8:10 p.m. Friday

TV: Apple TV+

Pitchers: Cal Quantrill (11-5, 3.55) vs. Dylan Bundy (8-6, 4.34)