Petey Halpin becomes the Guardians' latest unlikely hero with the big swing to take ALCS Game 3 over the Rays

CLEVELAND — The first time Petey Halpin played at Progressive Field, the ballpark was practically empty. Little did he know that one day, that same ballpark would be jam-packed and chanting his name in October.

Exactly 2,659 days before Halpin launched a go-ahead, two-run homer to help the Cleveland Guardians inch closer to the World Series with a 3-2 victory on Thursday in ALCS Game 3 , he was a talented teenager chasing his big-league dreams. He had just turned 17 and was invited to play in MLB's High School All-Star Game leading up to the Midsummer Classic in Cleveland in 2019. While the big-league club was across the state taking on the Reds, 40 of the best prep prospects in the country gathered on Cleveland's home turf to play a seven-inning scrimmage in front of scattered groups of friends and family, plus a contingent of amateur scouts. The outfield seats and upper decks were entirely unoccupied.

That was certainly not the case Thursday, when 30,101 fans packed Progressive Field for Game 3 between the Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays. The two clubs split the first two games at Tropicana Field before the series shifted to Ohio, where the weather forecast loomed large. Projected rain for Thursday evening prompted MLB to move first pitch up to 1 p.m., making it harder for fans to fill the stadium on a weekday afternoon. But with the rain still hours away, Game 3 unfolded in picturesque postseason conditions — 62 degrees and sunny — and the crowd was buzzing. It was an ideal stage for another memorable October chapter for the Guardians, with Halpin at the center of it.

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In the second inning, Nathaniel Lowe gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead with an RBI double. Cleveland starter Gavin Williams picked up where he left off from his spectacular ALDS performance, cruising through three perfect innings on 35 pitches with five strikeouts. But the Rays broke through in the fourth, when the speedy Chandler Simpson smoked a triple down the right-field line to drive in Yandy Díaz and Victor Mesa Jr. and make it 2-1 Tampa Bay.

With the bottom third of Cleveland's order due up in the fifth, Rays relievers Cam Booser and Tyler Wells started warming in the bullpen while starter Griffin Jax sought to collect a few more outs. But Patrick Bailey led off with an infield single, bringing the rookie Halpin to the plate as the go-ahead run. In a 2-2 count, Jax attacked with a sinker right down the middle. Halpin didn't miss; his left-handed swing connected with authority. The ball jumped off his bat at 105 mph and soared toward the right-center-field seats.

On contact, it looked like a no-doubter, and Halpin reacted as such, admiring the ball's trajectory as he slowly walked sideways toward first base. The wind was blowing hard toward home plate, however, putting the ball's final destination momentarily in doubt. But Halpin hit it well enough. The ball landed just over the wall, and pandemonium ensued. Halpin flipped his bat nearly 10 feet straight up over his head and began the biggest home run trot of his life.

"I definitely threw it high," Halpin conceded postgame. "I think just the moment and that being for sure the biggest moment of my career, just the energy and the excitement — just kind of let it go."

"Ten out of 10," reliever Daniel Espino rated Halpin's bat flip afterward. "I thought it was going to hit him in the head on the way down."

"He smashed that," fellow rookie Travis Bazzana said. "I was like, that's a no-doubter — it's way gone. But the wind was howling right into that ball, so it kind of snuck out. But it deserved to be a homer, that's for sure."

That concluded the scoring in Game 3. Both bullpens breezed through the remainder of the contest unblemished, with Cleveland closer Cade Smith notching the final four outs to seal the one-run victory. Besides Simpson's three-bagger, it was a brutal day for Tampa Bay's bats, most notably Junior Caminero, who went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for just the second time in his career.

The Game 3 hero, Halpin, 24, has been a surprising late addition to a Guardians season already defined by impact rookies such as Parker Messick, Chase DeLauter and Bazzana. After spending most of the season's first half in Triple-A, Halpin's plus speed and defense in center field earned him more consistent playing time down the stretch, though his offensive contributions were fleeting.

But in September, he delivered one of the biggest hits of the Guardians' season as Cleveland chased down another division title: a dramatic, go-ahead home run against the Chicago White Sox, an ultra-rare spark of success for Halpin against a southpaw. And when Angel Martínez slumped to begin the postseason, manager Stephen Vogt inserted Halpin into the starting lineup at the end of the ALDS, hoping his high-energy style could make a difference. On Thursday, Halpin's big swing — and even bigger bat flip — delivered exactly that.

"I'm really happy for Petey," Vogt said. "It's the second time he's kind of picked us up in a big spot this year and a really fun moment for him — great swing."

When Halpin took the field in Cleveland as a 17-year-old, his performance was fairly forgettable. The stakes were low, the attendance even lower. Now that same venue is chanting "Petey! Petey!" as he tries to do his part to push Cleveland closer to ending the longest World Series drought in the major leagues.

After his big swing on Thursday, the home team needs just two more wins to advance to the Fall Classic — and with two more home games on deck, they'll have the crowd behind them.

"Just having as much momentum as we can possibly have, and being able to feed off of that, feed off the crowd, feed off the energy," he said. "It's a lot of fun."