Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith of Abbotsford, British Columbia recorded his first Major League Baseball career save on Saturday. He accomplished the feat in a 2-0 Guardians win over the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. With the win, the Guardians beat the White Sox three games to two in the best out of five American League Divisional Series.
Smith threw an inning and two thirds. He faced five batters and had four strikeouts. Of the 27 pitches Smith threw, he had 18 strikes. Smith was one of two Canadian pitchers who had a notable game. Erik Sabrowski of Edmonton, Alberta recorded a hold after striking out White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami. In all, Guardians pitchers recorded 21 strikeouts.
In the 2026 MLB postseason, Smith has an earned run average of 1.35. During 6 2/3 innings pitched, he has given up two hits, one earned run, one home run, and one walk, to go along with 11 strikeouts, and an outstanding WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.45.
During Smith’s postseason career, he has two postseason wins and one postseason hold. The first postseason win came in game one of the 2024 American League Divisional Series on October 5, 2024 (in a 7-0 Guardians win over the Detroit Tigers) and the second postseason win came in game two of the 2025 American League Wildcard Series on October 1, 2025 (in a 6-1 Guardians win over the Tigers). The postseason hold came in game three of the 2024 American League Championship Series on October 17, 2024 (in a 7-5 Guardians win over the New York Yankees).
Next up for the Guardians are the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series. Game one is on Monday.
