Guardians starter Triston McKenzie took in the Browns-Chargers NFL game last Sunday and watched firsthand as players and fans were swarmed by insects at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium, frantically slapping the air.
“It’s like a swarm of mosquitos, but when you try to swat them away, they don’t care, and they will land on you anyway,” McKenzie said before Game 2 of the ALDS in The Bronx on Friday afternoon. “I don’t even know how to explain it.”
Yankees fans don’t need it explained: The midges are back.
The flying insects that hatch along Lake Erie and migrate inland as the weather cools infamously affected Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS, when they harassed Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain in the eighth inning of a game his team was leading. After the Yankees sprayed down Chamberlain with bug spray — which did not work — he lost control and allowed the tying run of a contest Cleveland won, 2-1, on the way to winning the series in four games.
“I really don’t think there’s a way to deal with them,” said McKenzie, who is expected to start Game 3 on Saturday, when the series heads to Cleveland. “I think you just have to pitch through it.”
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, right, applies bug spray to relief pitcher Mariano Rivera before the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 of an American League Division Series game against the Indians in 2007. AP
Yankees trainer Gene Monahan sprays pitcher Joba Chamberlain with bug spray as swarms of midges swarm in the eighth inning of a playoff game against the Indians in 2007. APThe Yankees have talked with their Game 3 starter, Luis Severino, about the possibility of the presence of the bugs, which can appear to be everywhere. The Yankees have been advised against using repellants.
“[People we have talked with] basically said ‘Don’t use bug spray,’ but I have no idea,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “We’ll have to probably cross that bridge [when we get there].”
The Browns and Chargers were greeted by the midges during pregame warmups Sunday, and one Los Angeles player told the Associated Press they were “terrible.”
Reliever Bryan Shaw, who has been with Cleveland for parts of seven seasons, said he has frequently dealt with the pests, though never while pitching.
“They are always around. You get done with the game and they are all over your car and stuff like that. They are just kind of an annoyance,” the 34-year-old righty said. “They are just kind of there. Nothing to really do.”
There was nothing Chamberlain, then an electric rookie reliever, could do on Oct. 5, 2007, when he unraveled after a break in the game to spray the whole Yankees infield and the umpiring crew. The midges would not leave him, many resting on his face, and he unleashed a wild pitch that pushed home the tying run.
Luis Severino, left, and Triston McKenzie will face off in Game 3 of the Yankees-Guardians ALDS Series in Cleveland. AP and Shutterstock“It’s something you can’t get around,” McKenzie said. “You just have to steel yourself and pitch through it.”
The 37-year-old Blake was in college during the Midges Game, but he remembers.
“That was pretty wild. We’ll see,” said Blake, who had been Cleveland’s assistant director of pitching development before coming to the Yankees. “Hopefully it doesn’t play out that way for us.”
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
