CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi raised eyebrows July 4 after a loss to the Detroit Tigers, insisting that their postseason chances remained strong in the midst of a 10-game losing streak.
The right-hander’s statement proved correct, and he will be on the mound Thursday, when the AL Central rivals play a winner-take-all Game 3 of the American League wild-card series in Cleveland.
Cecconi (7-7, 4.30 ERA) takes on Tigers righty Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64 ERA) in a matchup that was set up by the Guardians’ 6-1 home victory Wednesday.
“My confidence came from watching how everyone in the clubhouse showed up after each one of those losses,” Cecconi recalled. “Whether we smoked a team or got smoked. Whether it was the eighth, ninth, 10th in a row we lost, we showed up with the same energy, intensity and focus.
“That process that we committed to is what got us here. Not anything else.”
Cecconi was not sharp in his final regular season performance, giving up four runs in four innings against the Texas Rangers on Sept. 26. It was his first loss in a seven-start span and temporarily put the Guardians’ playoff chances in big jeopardy.
Cleveland wound up winning its final two contests to claim a second straight Central Division crown, one game ahead of the Tigers. Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee started the first two wild-card games against them.
“All three of them have pitched very, very well,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “This kind of keeps them in order and on as regular a schedule as possible from the regular season.”
Cecconi tossed two scoreless innings in two appearances as a rookie with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies in his only career playoff appearances. He is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against Detroit.
“What I do tomorrow is going to be determined by all the work I’ve put in through the months and months and days,” Cecconi said.
Flaherty lost his final two starts during Detroit’s final-month collapse, both against the Guardians, allowing a combined four runs in 9 1/3 innings on Sept. 17 and 24. He is 2-5 with a 2.51 ERA in 10 career games against the Indians/Guardians, including a 0-3 record and 3.94 ERA in three outings in 2025.
The 29-year-old hurler was traded by the Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2024 trade deadline, won a World Series championship there, and returned to Detroit as a free agent.
“It was weird last year because I didn’t really want to go,” Flaherty said. “Obviously, things worked out in a great way for both sides. I was lucky enough to come back and continue those relationships.”
Detroit ace Tarik Skubal had a wild-card record 14 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings as the Tigers pulled out a 2-1 victory in Game 1. One day later, Brayan Rocchio’s go-ahead homer ignited a five-run eighth for the Guardians.
The winner of Game 3 will play the Seattle Mariners in the AL Divisional Series.
“We’ve just got to show up tomorrow and win a baseball game,” Detroit outfielder Riley Greene said. “We’ll be ready.”
–Brian Dulik, Field Level Media
