Glew: Canadian baseball notes - Hicks, Sabrowski, Smith, Stairs
Chilliwack Cougars and Junior National Team grad and Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) needed just six pitches to close out the Guardians’ 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the ALCS on Monday.
October 13, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball notes from the past couple of days:
Smith closes out Guardians’ win in Game 1 of ALCS
Last night, Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) needed just six pitches to retire the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure the Guardians’ 7-3 win at Tropicana Field.
Smith has appeared in all six of the Guardians’ postseason games this year. I believe the record for most consecutive postseason games appeared in by a reliever is seven by Oakland A’s left-hander Darold Knowles in the 1973 World Series against the New York Mets.
With his scoreless inning on Monday, Smith now owns a 1.17 ERA in his six appearances this postseason. He has 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings and opponents are hitting .080 against him.
Sabrowski earns hold
Guardians lefty Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Ont.) allowed a solo home run to Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins, the first batter he faced in the eighth inning last night, but settled in to retire the side.
He struck out outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., got outfielder Joey Deluca to line out to right and then retired second baseman Ben Williamson on a ground ball to first.
That performance was good enough to earn Sabrowski his second hold of the postseason before handing the ball over to Smith for the ninth.
Hicks enters Game 1 in sixth inning
With left-hander Foster Griffin starting Game 1 for the Guardians, left-handed hitting Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) did not start Game 1 for the Rays.
Hicks entered the contest as a pinch-hitter for Nick Fortes in the bottom of the seventh inning and lined out to first base. He remained in the game and grounded out to second against Smith with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Hicks is now 1-for-12 in four games this postseason.
The Toronto Mets alum may find himself on the bench again to begin Game 2 tonight when southpaw Parker Messick starts for the Guardians.
Stairs became a hero in Philadelphia 18 years ago
When Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) walked to the plate to face Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton for the Philadelphia Phillies with two outs in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series - 18 years ago today - his heart rate was the same as it always is.
He was calm and focused, even though the game was tied 5-5 and there were more than 50,000 fans at Dodger Stadium cheering against him.
“My heart rate was the same,” Stairs told me in an interview at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks, Alta., in 2024. “People that know me know I’m very down to earth, low key. My heartbeat never changes.”
In that at bat, Stairs can recall everything being in slow motion.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Stairs. “My heart rate was as low as ever. I knew Broxton was good, but I knew he missed his spots sometimes. And I was very fortunate that he threw a 3-1 fastball into my zone and I hit the snot out of it.”
That home run deep into the right field bleachers catapulted the Phillies to a 7-5 lead and a Game 4 victory, and the Dodgers never recovered in the series.
Stairs hasn’t had to buy a beer in Philadelphia since.