The Cleveland Guardians still have major concerns after their ALCS win in Game 3

The Cleveland Guardians saved their season on Thursday night by defeating the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS. Instead of 0:3 we are now behind 2:1.

Everything feels fine and good at the moment. Jhonkensy Noel's two-run home run that tied the game in the ninth inning was insane. David Fry's double win in the tenth round was a mess.

However, even after their thrilling victory, there are still some serious problems for the Guardians.

Emmanuel Clase was one of the best closers always during the regular season with an ERA of 0.61, a WHIP of 0.659 and an ERA+ of 674 (!!!). But in the playoffs? It was a completely different story.

Clase had two tough games against the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, and in Game 3 against the Yankees, he gave up two consecutive long balls to Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning, turning a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 deficit .

Are the late season lights just too bright for Clase? At no point during the 162-game season did he appear more vulnerable.

Stephen Vogt will obviously stay by Clase's side in safe situations. After all, he was an All-Star and a legitimate Cy Young candidate. But how good are the Guardians? Really What do you think about Clase right now?

Jose Ramirez is now just 2-12 in the series after going 1-4 on Thursday night. Yes, the only hit was a double and the other hit was a home run in Game 2, but the home run came when Cleveland was already down 6-2 in the ninth inning.

Overall, Ramirez wasn't good in the playoffs, slashing just .179/.324/.464. Additionally, he owns a lifetime postseason OPS of .666 over his career.

Make no mistake: Ramirez needs to get much better if the Guardians want to have a legitimate chance of winning this series. The contributions of role players like Noel and Fry are nice, but for Cleveland to beat New York, Ramirez will need to perform consistently.

We already know that Stanton is essentially the modern-day Mr. October. However, there were serious questions about Judge's playoff acumen.

Judge had a miserable ALDS performance against the Kansas City Royals and his problems continued into Game 1 of the ALCS. However, he hit a home run in Game 2 against the Guardians and in Game 3 he tied the game with a two-run pitch against Clase.

Yes, Judge has gone just 1 of 5 with three strikeouts in the matter, but the fact that he has left the yard in consecutive games is scary.

The Couple Judge could potentially emerge with Stanton's brilliance, and Cleveland could be in significant trouble moving forward.

The Guardians are still a big part of this series and their triumph in Game 3 was as exciting as it gets. And again it is now a very manageable 2:1 instead of an almost guaranteed 3:0 at the end of the season.

So yeah: It's good to be optimistic, especially considering Cleveland still has two home games left. But again, let's be honest: The Guardians have some very obvious flaws, and their late-inning theatrics in Game 3 aren't going to make them suddenly disappear.

Maybe Cleveland's magic will last and the Guardians can overcome their glaring flaws and advance to the World Series.

But for now, it's wise to exercise cautious optimism rather than flash rose-colored glasses as Cleveland heads into Game 4.