Cal Quantrill has never lost a decision at home, a bad omen for the Yankees in Game 4

CLEVELAND – The statistic itself is misleading, a semantical sleight of hand that makes it sound like Cal Quantrill has literally never lost a game when he pitches at the Guardians’ Progressive Field.

Quantrill, 27, has made 36 starts here over the past two-plus seasons, and not once after the final out was recorded did he wind up the losing pitcher. He has the second such longest streak in major-league history, trailing only Kenny Rogers (38).

But this is a team game, and Quantrill doesn’t become a free agent when Guardians manager Terry Francona takes the ball from him. The truth of the matter is, Cleveland ultimately landed on the wrong end 10 times out of Quantrill’s 36 home starts. Maybe they didn’t hit. Perhaps the bullpen faltered a little. Or a lot.

But by the same token, using the exact same parameters, Cleveland wins 72 percent of the time in its ballpark when Quantrill takes the mound. As he will Sunday in Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, with a chance to close out the Bronx Bombers.

A three-in-four chance, if we’re basing this solely on Quantrill and the Guardians’ good fortunes when he sleeps in his own bed the night before he takes the bump.

“I like the routine that we’ve built here,” Quantrill said. “I think it can be easier to prepare at home, doesn’t have to be (though). I think some of it’s probably a little bit of randomness, but I do enjoy pitching here.”

Cal Quantrill has been a winning MACHINE ♨️@CleGuardians | #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/lG5ZfT7I6j

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 11, 2022

To be clear, and fair to the gravity of the moment, the Yankees just saw Quantrill in Game 1 of this series and knocked him around a little bit. He lasted just five innings and gave up only four hits, but New York scored four times off of him, using two homers. The Yankees got to him the third time through the order, when Quantrill (like most pitchers) is more vulnerable. It was more than enough for Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ Game 4 starter, who shut the Guardians down with just one run over 6 1/3 innings.

But that game was at Yankee Stadium.

“I’d love to tell you I have this whole second version of myself I could just throw at them (and I) would be so nasty and great,” Quantrill joked. “I do my best every time. I throw all my best pitches, so I’m going to throw those same pitches again.”

Quantrill was a perfect (obviously) 9-0 at Progressive Field this season with a 3.28 ERA in 19 games. Back to the original point: Cleveland went 15-4 in those contests. He will be pitching in front of about 36,000 frothy home fans, fired up not just from a Browns game set for 1 p.m. Sunday but also delirious from the three-run ninth inning the Guardians posted Saturday night to beat the Yankees 6-5 and take the lead in this series.

Progressive Field shook as Oscar Gonzalez’s two-out single with the bases loaded scooted through the infield, and pandemonium broke out on the field and in the stands as Amed Rosario scored the game-winning run. Twenty minutes after the game was over, as the thousands of fans who stayed to celebrate were making the slow walk down from the upper deck, they broke out in random, unified applause, as though they’d just seen a street juggler or a violinist in jeans and a beret perform a concert under a lamppost.

That’s the kind of energy that will be pumping through this place when Quantrill places his index and middle fingers from his right hand on the baseball, at about 7:07 or so on Sunday night, before rocking and firing one into Austin Hedges’ glove.

Ahead 2-1 in the series, the Guardians of course have a game to play with. But the chance to close out a history-rich franchise like the Yankees without having to go back to New York is the easier and correct way to do this. Cleveland escaped Game 3 without using its top three relievers – Emmanuel Clase, Trevor Stephen, and James Karinchak – an incredible safety net for any pitcher who comes before. Just get through the fifth inning.

And Cleveland couldn’t have a better starting pitcher to turn to at this moment. One who joined the organization in 2020 from San Diego, along with Josh Naylor and Gabriel Arias and Hedges and Owen Miller, in the Mike Clevinger trade. One who, ahem, literally has never been the losing pitcher in a home game since.

“I think you probably feel those things in the moment a little bit,” Quantrill said. “I’ll be prepared, and I am sure that there will be a little extra pressure, and I’m sure it will be exciting and the fans will be loud. That’s stuff we look forward to. That’s why we play this game.”

(Photo: David Richard / USA Today)