CLEVELAND — The baseball gods often work behind the scenes, orchestrating moments and matchups we can barely imagine.
Take June 26, for instance, when Matthew Boyd happened to tune into a Cleveland Guardians game to get a sense of the team that so desperately needed his services. That night, a rookie built like a football player crushed a home run to center field at Camden Yards in his very first at-bat.
Fast forward four months. Boyd, now recovered from a left elbow injury, has become Cleveland's most reliable postseason starter, delivering yet another stellar performance in Game 3 of the ALCS. That towering rookie, Jhonkensy Noel, whom Boyd has watched from the start, kept the Guardians' season alive with a massive home run into the left-field bleachers.
Noel's father, Rafael, had never been to the U.S. until October, but he’s now part of the Guardians' magical postseason run. Father and son often discuss hitting, though their conversations can stall when Rafael asks why Noel swung at or laid off a certain pitch. Noel jokingly responds that his dad should try hitting a 90 mph slider himself.
But Rafael had no critiques about his son's game-saving moonshot with two outs in the ninth inning, which prevented Cleveland from falling into a nearly insurmountable series deficit. Noel was simply looking for anything inside, and an 88 mph changeup over the plate was enough to do the job.
Rafael witnessed a moment Cleveland fans will never forget, as the crowd chanted "Big Christmas," the nickname manager Stephen Vogt gave Noel (a moniker Noel proudly embraces). In this city, even the most unexpected heroes are celebrated—like Ryan Merritt, who threw just 31 2/3 innings in the majors but will toss the ceremonial first pitch before Game 5, remembering his 2016 ALCS gem that helped Cleveland secure a pennant.
On this night, however, the matchup everyone had been waiting for took center stage: soon-to-be two-time MVP Aaron Judge against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, who had one of the best relief seasons in history. Clase had longed for this rematch since he was forced to intentionally walk Judge at Yankee Stadium in August. Judge had silenced the crowd that night with a game-tying homer off a 99 mph cutter.
In Game 3, the Guardians' well-laid plans—five strong innings from Boyd, followed by key contributions from Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis, all leading to a rested Clase—were tested, but the baseball gods, and Cleveland, delivered.
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