CLEVELAND (AP) — Emmanuel Clase's nearly perfect season is now flawed.
Cleveland's All-Star closer, who spent the past six months dominating like no other pitcher in the majors, gave up a three-run homer to Detroit's Kerry Carpenter with two outs in the ninth inning Monday as the Tigers shocked the Guardians 3-0 in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Pitching a second inning for just the second time in 2024, Clase showed that even he can be beaten.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt didn't second guess his decision to bring Clase into a tight game. In fact, he'd do it again and again.
“Felt like we wanted to get our best pitcher in there in that moment,” Vogt said. "He’s been the best pitcher in baseball all year, and with the game on the line, we wanted to go get ’em. And he’s gone multiples (innings) a couple different times for us this year.
“So wanted to come in there and stop the game with Clase.”
This time, he didn't.
The right-hander got two strikes on Carpenter and catcher Bo Naylor wanted his next pitch to be in the dirt. He missed.
Clase left it up. Carpenter got it out.
“Emmanuel has been so good for us, and everything went right until Carpenter squared up that slider,” Vogt said. "You got the best pitcher in the world on the mound. You’re going to let him face any hitter. Carpenter is a phenomenal hitter.
“He got a mistake slider, and he didn’t miss it. Gotta tip your cap.”
Clase recorded 47 saves this season, a new franchise single-season high and he also surpassed Cody Allen for the career club lead. He hasn't blown a save since May, and he finished the regular with a 0.61 ERA — the lowest in team history.
Nothing seemed to faze him and there was never a time when he wasn't available for Vogt, who has leaned on the three-time All-Star and baseball's best bullpen since opening day.
Clase didn't offer any excuses, and the 26-year-old said he simply made a bad pitch.
“The plan was to execute it down the dirt where the catcher was calling for,” he said through an interpreter. “I just didn’t execute it. And that cost us the game.”
Clase had thrown eight scoreless innings in the postseason before Carpenter's homer. He also only allowed two homers and just five earned runs all season.
Vogt typically ends the game shaking hands with Clase. For one of the first times in memory, he had to take the ball from him.
“Emmanuel has been locked down all year,” Vogt said. "He’s been nearly perfect. He's human, too. These things are going to happen, and it’s unfortunate the timing of when it did, but at the same time he’s going to have the ball in the ninth again.
“This is the best closer in the game for a reason, and they just happened to get him tonight.”
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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase walks off the field after being taken out of the game in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase watches as Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter runs the bases with a three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
From left, Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, home plate umpire Ramon DeJesus and pitching coach Carl Willis talk with pitcher Emmanuel Clase, right, during a mound meeting in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase walks off the field after being taken out of the game in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
LAKE LURE, N.C. (AP) — The head of the U.S. disaster response agency continued to forcefully push back Monday against false claims and conspiracy theories about her agency’s response to Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm continued to climb.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell pointed to the agency's massive, collaborative effort that keeps growing, and she strongly urged residents in hard-hit areas to accept the government’s offer for assistance.
“We have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers in the private sector,” Criswell said at a news conference in Asheville, North Carolina. “And frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralizing to our staff that have left their families to come here and help the people of North Carolina. And we will be here as long as they’re needed.”
Misinformation has spread over the past week in communities hit the hardest by Helene, including that the federal government is intentionally withholding aid to people in Republican areas. Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have questioned FEMA’s response and falsely claimed that its funding is going to migrants or foreign wars.
FEMA has dedicated part of its website to providing accurate answers to questions and addressing rumors on its response to Helene.
On Friday, the agency put out a statement debunking rumors that it will only provide $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery. Criswell said that initial money helps residents with expenses for medicine or food. She said additional funding will be available to reimburse them for the cost of home repairs, personal items lost, post-hurricane rental units and hotel stays.
“But I can’t give it to them if they don’t apply,” Criswell said. “And if people are afraid to apply, then it is hurting them.”
When asked directly about a circulating claim that FEMA would seize people’s property if they don’t pay back the $750 in within one year, Criswell said that was “absolutely false.”
The cleanup and response to the storm that killed at least 230 people continued Monday, while Milton strengthened rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane on a path toward Florida, the same area battered by Helene less than two weeks ago.
More than 130,000 customers in western North Carolina were still without electricity Monday, according to poweroutage.us.
Also in North Carolina, more than 1,600 local and state search-and-rescue team members have been joined by about 1,700 members of the state National Guard, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Monday that an additional 500 active-duty troops have been deployed to North Carolina. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said troops with advanced technological assets will be arriving, bringing the total number of active-duty forces to about 1,500. The troops are bringing surveillance equipment to allow officials to get a better overview of the region.
Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said search-and-rescue aircraft were flying 10-hour sorties providing wellness checks, medical care and evacuations. He called the military’s operations the “most important and honorable mission for us, which is to help fellow citizens.”
Cooper said more than 50 water systems were destroyed or impaired by the storm and that the pace of restoring service varies by community. He said he couldn't give a specific timeline but said the process might take longer in Asheville and Buncombe County, where at least six dozen people died.
“It’s still going to be a while,” he said.
Cooper also visited the towns of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure in Rutherford County, which both experienced devastating damage.
“We’re going to help western North Carolina come back,” Cooper said as he stood with Lake Lure’s mayor, Carol Pritchett. “It’s too important to our economy, to our state, not to do it.”
Pritchett told Cooper that the tiny town would need all the help it could get. Its sewer and wastewater treatment systems needed complete replacements, and the lake would have to be completely dredged. She estimated the costs would be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“We’re a town of 1,300; we certainly can’t do it on our own,” Pritchett said.
Without restoring major infrastructure, Pritchett said the tourism on which the town depends could not come back.
“The town’s name is Lake Lure. With no lake here, the ‘Lake Lure’ kind of begs the question,” she said.
In South Carolina, officials estimate $250 million has been spent on debris cleanup, infrastructure damage and emergency response. More than 300 homes were destroyed and 5,200 damaged, state Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson said Monday.
The state's largest school district, Greeneville County, plans to reopen Wednesday after shutting down for seven days. The district said it has had to modify bus routes because of blocked roads, closed bridges, sinkholes, and traffic signal outages at major intersections.
In Tennessee, where at least 12 people died from Helene, Gov. Bill Lee on Monday visited Bristol Motor Speedway, now a hub for collecting donations for victims and centralizing other operations in the wake of the flooding. Lee met with coordinators and volunteers who were sorting through donations.
“These are Tennesseans and they’re hurting,” Lee said. “Not only are they hurting, but they’re helping.”
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Jeffrey Collins and George Walker contributed to this report.
Volunteer Ann Davis speaks with Gov. Bill Lee, right, during his visit to the East Tennessee Disaster Relief Center, for Hurricane Helene disaster response Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV via Pool)
Gov. Bill Lee visits with a volunteer at the East Tennessee Disaster Relief Center, for Hurricane Helene disaster response Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV via Pool)
Contractors for Duke Energy rebuild destroyed electrical lines near the Swannanoa River in Asheville, N.C., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
A worker cuts up a tree that impaled itself on a fire hydrant during Hurricane Helene, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in the Oak Forest neighborhood of Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
