Guardians have confidence ALCS Game 3 starter Matthew Boyd can slow down Yankees lineup

CLEVELAND — The Guardians have yet to see a version of Matthew Boyd they haven't liked. And now, with Cleveland in a 2-0 hole in the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees, Boyd will get the ball for Thursday's Game 3 at Progressive Field.

The Guardians dropped Game 1 and Game 2 in New York, as the Yankees jumped on both Alex Cobb and then Tanner Bibee. Neither Guardians starter pitched past the third inning. Boyd, who joined the club midseason as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery, pitched brilliantly against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series and now carries the burden of helping the Guardians get back in the series.

"Matt has thrown ball well every time we have given it to him this year," said manager Stephen Vogt, speaking to the confidence he's had in turning to Boyd in such key situations. "He has worked tremendously hard to get himself back healthy. ... I'm excited to give him the ball and see what he can do."

ALCS Game 2 takeaways: Guardians make rare defensive mistakes in ALCS Game 2; Tanner Bibee taken out early

In eight starts in the regular season, Boyd had a 2.72 ERA. He then pitched 6⅔ scoreless innings in the ALDS, including two innings in Game 5, which was all the Guardians needed before going to their league-best bullpen.

Matthew Boyd to start ALCS Game 3 for Guardians

Boyd, 33, came to the Guardians with a career ERA hovering around 5.00, and he was returning from major elbow surgery. To him, what Cleveland has seen has been the effort of about four years of work and refinement. Only that improvement couldn't be shown on the field while he either pitched through injuries or was sidelined because of them.

As Boyd noted Wednesday, one degree off on the mound might be a "fan" of variance of 17 inches at the plate. For a pitcher fighting through something, repeating a delivery can be difficult. Finally, after years, Boyd feels healthy.

The Guardians have been the beneficiaries of all of it thus far.

"I've spent the better parts of four years trying to find the best version of myself, but obviously there were things in the way of that — injuries," Boyd said. "I would say what you see now is me just being healthy, and with that just finally having healthy reps, and being able to do the things that I've wanted to do."

Boyd also said his recent run is a major credit to the "Cleveland pitching factory," as Lucas Giolito once called them.

"Those guys are understanding. Hey, this is the best version of you, and what this looks like here and what this looks like there," Boyd said. "It's just a constant evolution every day. I'm really, really grateful for those guys."

Guardians have unclear plans for ALCS Games 4, 5 vs. New York Yankees

How the Guardians will attack the Yankees lineup beyond Game 3 remains unclear. Alex Cobb was set to start Game 5, but his back injury — which led to Ben Lively replacing him on the ALCS roster — altered those plans.

Bibee's short start in Game 2, in which he threw only 39 pitches before being taken out with the bases loaded in favor of Cade Smith, also could play a role in changing their plans. Bibee could potentially come back on shorter rest to start Game 5.

Game 4 could then be up to several options, including Gavin Williams. But with three games on three consecutive days (if Game 5 is necessary), the Guardians will need some more length from their starting pitching if they are to extend the series.

The Guardians will continue to react as each game arrives.

"We have some ideas, but we still need to see how the games go," Vogt said. "Just the cadence of our whole year has been, 'Let's worry about today, let's win today, and let's worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,' and we're going to stick with that."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians have confidence ALCS Game 3 starter Matthew Boyd can slow down Yankees lineup