DETROIT — Kolby Allard knew it would come to this.
He hadn’t pitched since Sept. 4. It’s not the first time he’s been shoved to the back row of the bullpen, but it is the first time he’s gone 14 days without pitching.
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The left-hander kept telling Guardians’ bullpen coach Caleb Longshore, “I know when I do get in a game, it’s going to be a huge situation and I’m going to be ready.”
That huge situation arrived Thursday in the eighth inning. The Guardians held a 3-1 lead and were trying to do the improbable — complete a three-game sweep of the first-place Tigers to get back into the race for the AL Central championship with 10 games left in the season.
Allard started the eighth by retiring Parker Meadows on a fly ball to center. He walked Gleyber Torres, but Kerry Carpenter hit into a force play at second. Allard finished the inning by striking out Riley Greene, who has 34 homers and 108 RBI this season.
When Allard came off the mound, he screamed in celebration.
Manager Stephen Vogt was asked after the game what reliever could sit for two weeks and still enter a close game in the eighth inning against the top of the order and get a positive result?
“Colby Allen, that’s who,” said Vogt. “I talked with him the whole time through these two weeks and I’m like, ‘Hey, dude, you’re going to get in there.’
“So that’s who Colby is. He’s not afraid. He just goes out there and makes pitches. And those were three of the biggest outs we’ve had in a really long time.”
There’s a movie called “The Lonelinest of the Long Distance Runner.” Well, there should be a movie about the lonelinest of the long reliever.
“Being the long man at times can be a little bit of funky job regarding when your name is called,” said Allard. “We had a week or so when all our starters were going eight and nine innings and that reset things a little bit.”
Allard said he stayed ready by throwing off the mound regularly and taking his catch sessions seriously.
“When you go out there in a game like this, you want to be sure the ball is going where you want it to go,” he said.
He also got to watch Jose Ramirez every night. It was Ramirez’s two-run homer in the seventh inning Thursday that gave the Guardians a 3-1 victory and a three-game sweep.
“Everything you hear, and everthing they say, is 10 times that,” said Allard, who pitched for the Phillies last year. “As a leader, as a player, he’s one of the best in the game, if not the best in the game.
“I think what everybody doesn’t see is the impact he has in the clubhouse in keeping guys loose, especially in situations like this with a fairly young roster. I think he’s invaluable to this team.”
Still, the question begs to be asked — if a pitcher goes 14 days without pitching, did the team forget he was on the team?
Allard laughed and said, “I don’t think so, brother. Let’s hope not. That’s just the way things go sometimes.”
Tim Herrin, Allard and Hunter Gaddes each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Tanner Bibee on Thursday. With the exception of Gaddis, that’s not the A-side of the pen, but they did what they were supposed to do. In the process, they gave the rest of the relievers a day off.
“We use all of our guys,” said Vogt. “We’ve done it all year and we’ll continue to do it.”
Vogt said the relievers have been worked hard and his main concern is their health.
“The bullpen has been running hot,” said Vogt, before Thursday’s game. “We’ve got guys down today. We’re going to continue to take care of these guys’ health.
“We’ve got to be smart. These are still regular season games. We don’t want to run anyone into the ground.”