Takeaways from Game 2 of the ALDS between the Tigers and Guardians on Oct. 7 at Progressive Field: “Good pitching beats good hitting and vice versa,” the late Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame Yankees catcher once (allegedly) said. Indians closer Emmanuel Clase, who this season set a franchise record with 47 saves and who allowed only two home runs all season, gave up a three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game. Clase got the last out of the eighth before pitching the ninth. The Tigers did not score again. Carpenter hammered a 97 MPH slider 423 feet into the right field seats on a 2-2 count. It was the third straight slider Clase threw. “The plan was to get it on the dirt where the catcher (Bo Naylor) was calling for,” Clase said through an interpreter. “I didn’t execute it, and that cost us the game.” The Guardians did not respond in the bottom of the ninth, and so now the best-of-five series between the Guardians and Tigers is tied 1-1. Game 3 is set for Oct. 9 in Detroit. There was some irony in Clase giving up the game-deciding home run after pitching so fabulously in the regular season, because for weeks there has been a debate on who is more deserving of the American League Cy Young Award — Detroit starter Tarik Skubal or Clase. Skubal, who started for the Tigers in game 2, definitely was the better pitcher on a crisp autumn afternoon in Cleveland. • Left-hander Matthew Boyd started Game 2 for the Guardians, pitched 4 2/3  strong innings and gave manager Stephen Vogt everything Vogt could have asked for. Boyd had to keep the Tigers off the board because Tigers starter Tarik Skubal was perfect through four innings. The Tigers had runners on first and third with two out in the top of the third. Boyd got Riley Greene on a routine ground ball to second baseman Andres Gimenez for the third out of the inning to leave both Tigers stranded. Wenceel Perez led off the Detroit fourth with a double to left field. Perez moved to third on a fly ball to right field by Spencer Torkelson, then Boyd got Parker Meadows and Jake Rogers swinging at strike three to strand Perez. Boyd, helped by a laser throw from right fielder Jhonkensey Noel cutting down Justyn-Henry Malloy trying to stretch a single into a double for the second out of the fifth, had the Tigers lunging at his slider. He finished his afternoon of work without allowing a Tiger to score. He gave up four hits, walked two batters and struck out five. As Boyd left the mound, he touched the bill of his cap to acknowledge the sellout crowd at Progressive Field. • Cade Smith did what he has done all season in relief of Boyd. He finished off the top of the fifth, got all three outs in the sixth and the first batter he faced in the seventh without allowing a Tiger to reach first base. Tim Herrin followed Smith and then Vogt called upon Hunter Gaddis to pitch the eighth inning with the game still scoreless. Matt Vierling doubled to center off Gaddis — the first hit allowed by a Guardians reliever in the series — with one out. Colt Keith struck out, then after an intentional walk, Clase got the last out of the eight when left fielder Steven Kwan made a spectacular diving catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Perez as Vierling was crossing home plate. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch challenged the call, hoping a replay would show Kwan trapped the ball. The replay showed the ball landing in the webbing of Kwan’s glove just before it hit the grass. The playoff game was just the second time this season Clase pitched more than one inning. Vogt did not second guess his decision. “Emmanuel has been locked down all year,” Vogt said. “He’s been nearly perfect, and 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. “Carpenter is a really good hitter. (Clase) left a slider over the plate and Carpenter didn’t miss it.” • Anyone who likes a pitchers duel was in baseball heaven watching Game 2. Skubal pitched four innings without allowing a walk or a hit. When the Guardians threatened in the fifth and sixth he got out of a pickle both times with the pitching that makes him the presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner. Josh Naylor broke up the perfect game with a double with one out in the fifth inning. Noel was hit by a pitch. Then with runners on first and second, Gimenez grounded into a double play. Brayan Rocchio doubled with one out in the sixth, Steven Kwan singled him to third and then Skubal got David Fry to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Skubal lived up to his reputation as the best pitcher in the AL. He pitched seven shutout innings, scattered three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Jose Ramirez makes a throw during the Guardians-Tigers game Oct. 7 at Progressive field. (Tim Phillis – For The News-Herald)