Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith of Abbotsford, British Columbia recorded his second career Major League Baseball postseason save on Thursday. He accomplished the feat in game three of the American League Championship Series, a 3-2 Guardians win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. With the win, the Guardians lead the Rays two games to one in the best out of seven series.
Smith threw an inning and a third. He threw 18 pitches and had 13 strikes. In the four batters he faced, Smith struck out two batters and forced two batters to fly out. In the 2026 MLB postseason, Smith now has a spectacular earned run average of 1.00. In nine innings of work, he has given up only one earned run (which happened to be a home run), two hits, and one walk, to go along with 13 strikeouts and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.33.
Game three was also a notable game for Guardians reliever Erik Sabrowski of Edmonton, Alberta, who recorded his third career postseason hold. Sabrowski now has three holds in his last three playoff appearances. On Thursday, Sabrowski came in for the seventh inning, and faced three batters. He allowed two flyouts and had one strikeout.
