Griffin increased his four-seam and sweeper use to get Cleveland through four innings

Foster Griffin had allowed two runs and hit Ben Williamson when Taylor Walls stepped in with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning. Griffin threw three consecutive sweepers. The first earned a called strike, the second drew a swing and miss, and the third finished below Walls’ recorded strike zone for another swinging strike. Cleveland escaped without a third run.

That confrontation ended a 29-pitch first inning. Griffin needed only 34 more pitches to complete the next three, leaving the Guardians a manageable deficit before their bullpen and offense took over. Cleveland eventually won 7–3 at Tropicana Field in the ALCS opener on October 12, 2026.

His final line was four innings, five hits, two earned runs and three strikeouts, without a walk. The hit batter remains part of the control picture. The complete pitch record shows a substantial change in selection, led by more four-seam fastballs and sweepers and far fewer cutters than in his Cleveland regular-season comparison.

How the pitch mix changed

Griffin threw 20 four-seam fastballs, 18 sweepers, 12 changeups, six cutters, five sinkers and two splitters. His four-seam share rose from 15.8% in the comparison to 31.7% in Game 1. The sweeper rose from 16.6% to 28.6%, while the cutter fell from 31.8% to 9.5%. No curveball was recorded in this outing.

The comparison contains 779 pitches from all nine of Griffin’s Cleveland regular-season starts, August 6 through September 23. His Washington appearances are excluded because they represent a different club context. The Game 1 changes describe what he threw, without establishing why he and his catcher chose those pitches.

The larger four-seam share also appears within the right-handed hitter sample: 19 of 52 Game 1 pitches, against 96 of 563 in the comparison. Cutters fell to four of those 52 pitches, from 184 of 563. That makes the overall shift more than a simple consequence of facing a different balance of left- and right-handed hitters. The 11-pitch sample against left-handed hitters is too small for a broad conclusion.

What the strikes and contact show

The four-seam averaged 91.8 mph, close to 91.7 in his Cleveland comparison. It supplied five called strikes and one miss from seven swings. The sweeper averaged 81.2 mph and supplied four of Griffin’s eight recorded misses, on 12 swing attempts. Those pitches contributed differently: the four-seam acquired strikes through takes, while the sweeper accounted for more missed swings.

The changeup drew six swings without a miss. Its four measured balls in play averaged 73.4 mph, so its lack of swing and miss did not make every contact dangerous. Across the full outing, three of 14 measured balls in play reached the 95 mph hard-hit threshold. That count includes Jonathan Aranda’s first-inning sacrifice bunt, which helps explain why contact summaries should be read alongside the actual sequence.

Griffin’s eight misses from 32 swings produced a 25.0% rate, compared with 19.9% in the Cleveland sample. Ten called strikes added to those eight misses for a 28.6% called-strike-plus-whiff rate across all 63 pitches. These measures describe separate opportunities: a strikeout is a completed plate appearance, while a miss or called strike is an individual pitch outcome.

Tampa Bay’s first-inning scoring came from Yandy Díaz’s double followed by RBI singles from Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca. Caminero’s single was measured at 111.2 mph off a 90.9 mph cutter. DeLuca’s RBI single came on an 84.2 mph changeup after a six-pitch confrontation. Griffin then struck out Walls to strand the bases loaded.

Workload and the final line

The remaining innings cost seven, 18 and nine pitches. Griffin allowed only one further hit after the first inning, DeLuca’s fourth-inning single. His three scoreless innings did not erase the initial damage, but they prevented the Rays from widening a lead Cleveland eventually overturned.

Daniel Espino replaced Griffin to begin the fifth and struck out all three hitters he faced. Griffin’s role in the comeback was to get through the early threat and provide four innings. His pitch record supports that narrower assessment, with the first-inning escape and the altered mix providing the clearest evidence.