On Sept. 30, 2020, at approximately 11:45 p.m. ET., interim manager Sandy Alomar looked to the heavens and whispered to the baseball gods, “Don’t worry, I got this.”
Trailing 8-6 in the seventh inning against the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALWCS, facing elimination, the Cleveland Indians had drawn a pair of two-out walks. With left-hander Zack Britton on the mound, Alomar opted to pinch-hit for Josh Naylor — the Tribe’s hottest hitter in the series up to that point — and send Jordan Luplow to the plate. Yankees manager Aaron Boone responded by pulling Britton and bringing in right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga.