CLEVELAND -- Growing up, Petey Halpin had Little League coaches with a simple rule: Skip the bat flip, and always run hard out of the batter’s box. Naturally, he tested those waters, even against their wishes.
If there was a moment to make an exception, we just saw it. Halpin delivered a swing that will live on in Clevelanders' heads for years to come.
Halpin’s two-run home run in the fifth inning on Thursday sent the Guardians to a 3-2 win over the Rays in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. Cleveland took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“The pure excitement of being in that moment and just having that moment in my career, I just kind of blacked out,” Halpin said of the bat flip. “It just happened.”
You can’t fault Halpin for his reaction, as a raucous Progressive Field crowd roared around him. The Guardians are now just two wins away from their first World Series berth since 2016.
In all best-of-seven postseason series tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to win the series 71 of 102 times (70%). In series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams that have won Game 3 at home to take a 2-1 lead have gone on to win the series 30 of 49 times (61%).
Halpin met the moment, in more ways than one.
“That was a good bat flip,” outfielder Steven Kwan said. “I think he’s the only one with the [guts] to have one that big, and really just send it up there. I feel like we need that kind of energy on our team.”
The Guardians trailed, 2-1, when catcher Patrick Bailey started the fifth inning off with an innocuous infield single. It brought Halpin, the No. 8 hitter in the order, to the plate to battle Rays starter Griffin Jax.
Halpin fell into a 2-2 count with Jax, who came back with a 95.9 mph sinker over the heart of the plate. Halpin turned on it and hit it 105 mph and a Statcast-projected 385 feet to right field. A ballpark clad in red knew it was gone immediately, and so did Halpin. He admired the blast for a few seconds, began to walk to first base and then whipped his bat into the air.
Halpin’s bat twirled up into the air like a helicopter rotor, as if it was destined to touch the clouds. Kwan, who was standing next to manager Stephen Vogt atop the dugout stairs, leaped onto the field, where he continuously bunny hopped in excitement.
“It was majestic,” Kwan said.
“I just saw the replay and saw how little it went out by,” Vogt joked. “I'm glad it cleared the wall.”
The Guardians’ bullpen is located beyond the center-field wall. When Halpin stepped to the plate, lefty reliever Erik Sabrowski wondered if he should try to slash a ground ball down the left-field line.
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero was playing on the grass during the first four pitches of Halpin’s at-bat, perhaps expecting a sacrifice bunt.
“What an idiot I am. That’s why I’m a pitcher, huh?” Sabrowski said with a laugh. “It was cool. We were excited.”
Daniel Espino (who was warming up in the bullpen to take over for starter Gavin Williams in the sixth) highly rated Halpin’s lumber toss, but also feared for his teammate’s safety as he began his home run trot.
“[It was a] 10 out of 10,” Espino said. “I thought it was gonna hit him on the head on the way down.”
Kwan said the blast reminded him of the three-run shot Halpin hit in the Guardians’ 6-3 win over the White Sox on Sept. 16, which gave Cleveland sole possession of first place in the AL Central en route to the division title.
Halpin’s latest heroic swing also reminds us that anyone can be a hero at this point of the season. He was often a reserve outfielder in the regular season who would enter for defensive purposes late in games. Through Games 1-4 of the ALDS, he took two plate appearances, both off the bench.
Vogt inserted Halpin into his starting lineup in Game 5 against the White Sox, and he went 2-for-3 with two doubles in the 2-0 win. He has started four straight games and is running with the opportunity.
“Petey's ready,” Vogt said. “He just wants to play, and he wants to contribute. For him, I don't feel like any moment ever gets too big for him. He's just ready, and he loves playing and he wants to help the team win.”
It takes more than 26 players to get to the postseason. It takes even more to reach the mountaintop. Halpin helped the Guardians get one step closer on Thursday.
“Pete's a big-game player,” Sabrowski said. “We’ve got a lot of big-game players in this locker room. We’re better off for it.”