Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 720 42: Blasting the Cy Young Pitcher

In the cheers of the full house of smiling fans, the Indians' ace pitcher Corey Kluber once again stepped onto the mound at Progress Field after the second game of the series.

Although he was forced to retire after only pitching 2.2 innings in Game 2, showing subpar performance, the Yankees, who were determined to make a comeback from a two-game deficit today, dared not underestimate their opponent:

Counting on a Cy Young-caliber pitcher to implode twice in a row, especially after resting for four days without traveling to an away game, is clearly unrealistic — according to statistics, Kluber has only given up more than four runs in four starts this year, and in each subsequent start, he averaged a record of 3 wins, 1 loss, and a 0.90 ERA, suggesting that the chance of overcoming this top-tier pitcher's dominance twice in a row is nearly zero.

As Yankee leadoff hitter Brett Gardner stepped up to bat, Girardi from the dugout signaled him. Understanding the signal, Gardner acknowledged with a nod and surprisingly opted for a bunt as Kluber pitched the first ball of the game.

Girardi's idea was to use small-ball tactics to catch the Indians off guard, capitalizing on Gardner's speed after he reached base. The idea was sound, but Gardner made a mistake in execution; the ball meant to land between the pitcher and first baseman was directly caught by Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, who quickly stepped on the bag for the out.

Seeing his tactic fail, Girardi shook his head and sighed.

The pressure on him as the head coach was currently the greatest on the team, especially after the Red Sox announced the termination of their manager John Farrell yesterday, making Girardi feel a sense of impending doom:

He and Farrell have both led the Yankees and Red Sox, these two prestigious clubs, to World Series victories, but Girardi has no doubt that if the Yankees are eliminated in this series, he might soon follow in Farrell's footsteps.

Second batter Aaron Judge also couldn't withstand Kluber's attack. His judgment of the outside pitches has been problematic throughout this series: Kluber and Perez, the pitcher-catcher duo, simply used the most straightforward pitch combinations to get to a full count, ultimately striking him out with an outside slider.

Counting this time, Aaron Judge, who hit 52 home runs in the regular season, has already struck out 13 times in this series, setting a Major League record for the most strikeouts by a single batter in a series. His batting averages have dropped to an all-time low of .056/.208/.100, with an unprecedented OPS of .308, showing he has been thoroughly suppressed by the Indians.

Watching the dejected and frustrated Judge walk back, Lin Guanglai merely patted his back without a word: If the Yankees truly manage to come from behind and reach the AL Championship Series, reviving the Judge's state will be a necessary consideration; but that can wait until the end, Lin Guanglai's current focus is solely on Kluber on the mound.

As Lin Guanglai walked into the batter's box with his bat, the stands at Progress Field echoed with boos rivaling those at Yankee Stadium, accompanied by some discriminatory remarks;

Meanwhile, the TV broadcast displayed Lin Guanglai's stats for this series: an awe-inspiring batting average of .529/.550/1.059, 6 walks, 2 home runs, and an OPS that hit a staggering 1.609 — it can be said, judging solely by this series' performance, even Barry Bonds at his peak wouldn't match this level.

Faced with Lin Guanglai who seemed to be divinely inspired, the Indians' strategy was clear: solve him if possible, otherwise just walk him with four balls.

Kluber nodded towards Perez in the catcher's seat before throwing an inside two-seam fastball aimed close to Lin Guanglai's elbow at 94 mph, forcing him to instinctively dodge and let the ball pass; the umpire, clearly favoring the home team and crowd, decisively called it a strike.

For the second pitch, the Indians' pitcher-catcher duo tried the same tactic, aiming the high-pressure fastball at the same spot near Lin Guanglai's elbow, but this time the pitch was too high to win the umpire's approval, bringing the count to 1 ball, 1 strike.

Just as Lin Guanglai thought Kluber would finally target his outside corner, surprisingly, the opponent stuck to his strategy, aggressively targeting his inside corner:

After all, data teams from the 30 Major League clubs have known for a season that Lin Guanglai excels at hitting inside pitches, and many pitchers choose to avoid it; however, today the Indians' pitcher-catcher duo did the opposite, leaving Lin Guanglai a bit puzzled.

Yet, since the opportunity presented itself, he certainly wouldn't let it slip; as Kluber's third pitch aimed at his inside corner arrived, Lin Guanglai tracked the pitch's trajectory and decisively swung his bat.

You expect the sound of contact as Lin Guanglai swung, but it never came: Kluber's inside pitch continued to move outside the strike zone after crossing the plate, using the cutter's deceptive traits to his greatest advantage, successfully fooling Lin Guanglai into a whiff.

"Oops, tricked." With the count now unfavorable at 1 ball, 2 strikes, Lin Guanglai took a deep breath to readjust his mentality, calming himself before stepping back into the batter's box.

On the mound, Kluber turned sideways and prepared to pitch as Lin Guanglai's gaze remained fixed on his hands: the opponent lifted his leg and swung his arm, the baseball once again flying towards Lin Guanglai's inside corner.

"Again? Do they really think I'm easy?" Being challenged inside four times by Kluber, Lin Guanglai, never treated this way before in his career, couldn't help but feel a bit angry, channeling all his fury into Kluber's inside fastball, determined to give it a good whack.

"Crack—!!!" This time, the sound Yankee players and fans had been waiting for finally resonated!

Struck by Lin Guanglai, the baseball soared high, overlooking a mass of fearful home crowd faces wearing Indians attire, streaking towards the right field deep in rapid flight;

In the Yankees' dugout, Sabathia also sprang from his seat, eyes following the ball, murmuring, "Is this kid truly a chosen one? Has Kluber been mentally controlled by Yuri? Otherwise, why does he keep challenging the inside?"

As the live broadcast followed the ball, witnessing it clear right field, Progress Field previously filled with noise fell silent; many home fans held their heads in disbelief, watching the young man raising his right arm while circling the bases.

Back in the dugout, exchanging high-fives with his teammates, Lin Guanglai finally stopped before Sabathia; before he could speak, Sabathia jumped in: "Kid, you're impressive—honestly, I didn't believe you could make good on that bet, but now I'm starting to believe…"

Lin Guanglai smiled in response, "This is just the beginning, CC, you just wait—this solo shot is merely the start."

"In today's game, I will utterly dismantle Corey Kluber!"