Briggs: As Emmanuel Clase transforms into gas can, Guardians' thrill ride reaches brink of winter

CLEVELAND — Some days, a David slays Goliath.

Others, it is not to be.

A night after David Fry and the Guardians stunned the big, bad Yankees in a comeback win, Cleveland damn near did it again Friday at Progressive Field before ultimately confronting autumn’s chilled reality as its remarkable season arrived at the brink of winter.

October is designed to break your heart.

Man, this one will hurt.

It is not that the Guardians should have been on the other end of an 8-6 loss in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.

It’s that everyone in the crowd of 35,263 thought they would be, another comeback appearing to build toward a magical crescendo.

And then, just like that, the air came out of the stadium faster than a ball off the bat of an Emmanuel Clase slider.

The Guardians went down with their best, and that may offer solace. It may not.

For all the whims of the postseason, Clase — the superstar closer who was unhittable all season — was supposed to be their one sure thing.

Instead, you could walk into a fireworks store with a blowtorch and a gasoline hose, and be less combustible than Clase this postseason.

After Cleveland rallied all the way back from a four-run deficit to even the game at six, Clase came in and imploded again, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk in the ninth.

Another night, another meltdown.

“I haven’t been able to execute my pitches,” Clase said.

You can’t help but feel for him, because, while Cleveland would not be here without him, this is now how his season will be most remembered — not for the brilliance over six months as the best pitcher in baseball but for his fade when the lights burned brightest.

While the Yankees’ biggest stars have shined this series — Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton have combined for seven homers — Clase has trended the opposite way.

He gave up five runs in 74 innings during the regular season. He’s now allowed eight runs in seven innings in the playoffs.

Brutal.

But, for better or worse, that’s October.

In the end, maybe it was an inevitable — albeit shocking — symptom of an overworked bullpen.

The reality: It is incredible Cleveland has gotten this far, given its depleted starting rotation.

Here’s how long its starters have lasted in the playoffs:

4 2/3 innings

4 2/3 innings

3 innings

4 innings

2 innings

2 2/3 innings

1 1/3 innings

5 innings

2 ⅓ innings

By Friday, the Guardians were so short on options they had to turn to Gavin Williams, who was 0-7 with a 6.55 ERA in seven home starts this season and had not pitched since Sept. 22. (What they got from him — three runs in 2 ⅓ innings — was as expected.)

That puts no small strain and weight on the bullpen, and it is not just Clase who has cracked. So, finally, did the just-as-dominant Cade Smith, who on Friday allowed a three-run home run to Stanton in the sixth inning.

Still, for all that, these irrepressible and resilient Guardians seemed charmed, and yet another enchanted chapter was right there to add to its thrilling story.

You should have heard this place in the seventh.

Down 6-2, back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor off Clay Holmes had pulled Cleveland within a run with one out.

And then …

We had one of the great almost homers in Guardians history, evoking the last time these teams met in the ALCS.

It called to mind Game 4 in 1998, when Cleveland led the series 2-1 and in the first inning Jim Thome hit a towering drive to right off Orlando Hernandez that looked like a three-run home run off the bat. The home crowd positively lost it … right until the ball settled into the right-fielder’s glove on the warning track. (Hernandez settled in, too, and the Yankees won the series in six games.)

Same thing with Jhonkensy Noel, a hero the night before who came off the bench Friday to belt what seemed to be an 8,000-foot three-run home run over the left-field wall — at least judging by the stadium-shaking roar — only for the ball to fall into the glove of Alex Verdugo on the track.

The Guardians tied it in the eighth, but, ultimately, like the Noel blast, it was not to be.

For Clase and Cleveland, a season to remember looks like it will have an ending to forget.