Monthly Archives: April 2021

Monsters lose to Stars in shootout 2-1

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The Cleveland Monsters found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-1 shootout loss to the Texas Stars.

At some point the goal scoring frequency for the Cleveland Monsters was going to see a correction. That correction occurred Thursday night as they only managed one goal in a 2-1 shootout loss in Texas to the Stars. The loss comes after winning their previous two games at home against the Chicago Wolves.

The only goal of the game for the Monsters came late in the 3rd period. Cliff Pu tied the game at 1 wit his first goal of the year. Tyler Angle (8) and Wyatt Newpower (6) were credited with assists on the goal.

Brad Thiessen started the game in goal and saved 25 of 26 shots on goal, not counting the shootout goal. This was the second straight game and third overall that Thiessen allowed 1 goal on the year.

Cleveland dominated in the shots on goal department (40-27), but were unable to convert those shots into goals. The Monsters held a slight advantage in power play opportunities, going 0-5 compared to Texas’ 0-4 effort. Given their ample opportunities to score it is a bit disappointing to see the Monsters unable to put more than one goal on the board.

Cleveland has two more games in Texas to complete their three game series on Saturday and Sunday,

Cavaliers look to snap four game losing streak

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take on the Washington Wizards at home as they are looking to snap their four game losing streak.

The shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers almost came away with a win last time out after falling behind by more than 20 points, but were unable to finish the comeback in a 109-104 loss. Cleveland will now have the chance to snap their current losing streak as they take on the Washington Wizards. The bad news is that Cleveland will be without some key players yet again.

The Cavaliers have been without Collin Sexton, Matthew Dellavedova, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lamar Stevens, Larry Nance Jr., Taurean Prince, and Dylan Windler the past two games. Sexton is listed as questionable for Friday’s game while the other six remain out.

Even if Sexton is able to play this will still be a tall task for the Cavaliers. Washington is a team on the edge of play-in contention and will be looking to send Cleveland one step closer towards elimination. It was just a few days ago that Bradley Beal scored 33 points in a 119-110 Cavs loss. A repeat performance could be in store as the Cavaliers are not able to stop anyone defensively.

The final result for Cleveland really does not matter at this point in the season. This is evaluation time for the Cavaliers. It is time to figure out just what they have in certain players and how they fit together. Koby Altman needs to pay close attention to see who are building blocks. A couple of these are obvious, but it is best to have the clearest picture possible.

Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 P.M. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Shane Bieber starts for Cleveland in Chicago

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The Cleveland Baseball Club will turn to reigning the Cy Young Award winner when they take on White Sox in Chicago.

Not too long ago the Cleveland Baseball Club took on the Chicago White Sox with Shane Bieber on the mound. Things went well for Cleveland and Bieber as he struck out 13 batters over 9 innings in a 2-0 win. A repeat performance could be in store as Bieber will look to get back into the win column after losing his last start against the Yankees.

Shane Bieber has an era of 2.48 in 5 starts this season with a 0.936 WHIP and 14.1 K/9. Bieber’s 57 strikeouts on the year is first in the American League and second in the majors behind Jacob deGrom.

As expected, Jose Abreau and Yoan Moncada are the two Chicago hitters who have given Shane Bieber issues in the past. Abreu is 8-23 with 3 home runs and Moncada is 6-23 with 2 homers and a double. If Cleveland is going to come away with a win it will have to start with keeping these two in check.

Starting opposite Shane Bieber will be Dallas Keuchel. After some shaky starts to the year Keuchel has rebounded, shutting out Texas over 6 innings in his last start. When it comes to facing Keuchel it is about getting good contact as he is not a strikeout pitcher. Cleveland will have to square up Keuchel’s pitches in order to avoid being shut down.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 P.M. at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Browns pick Greg Newsome 26th overall

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The Cleveland Browns bolstered their secondary by selecting the Northwestern cornerback 26th overall.

With how everything fell before them, the Cleveland Browns had their choice of multiple impact defensive players. Their choice? Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome.

With Greg Newsome now in the fold, the Cleveland Browns secondary is coming together nicely. Cleveland already had Denzel Ward as lockdown option before the offseason. The Browns added John Johnson and Troy Hill to improve that group. Newsome’s selection will add depth to start and eventually allow everyone to play in their best position.

Greg Newsome only accumulated 1 interception during his time in college and 20 pass defenses. The one knock on him is that he missed quite a few games during his time at Northwestern. The difference between Newsome and someone like Caleb Farley is the type and severity of the injuries. While this is something to monitor and be careful with going forward, considering him injury prone is premature at this time.

The Browns hold picks 59, 89, and 91 in rounds 2 and 3. Cleveland would be wise to consider some movement in order to acquire some blue chip players who are still on the board. Acquiring another impact starter would be a huge win for Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns.

Cavaliers fall to Magic for fourth straight loss

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The Cleveland Cavaliers were unable to snap their losing streak as they lost their fourth consecutive game.

To say things are not going well for the Cleveland Cavaliers is an understatement. The Cavs were shorthanded in their previous loss to the Toronto Raptors and were shorthanded yet again Wednesday. The end result was something similar, another loss for a struggling Cavaliers team.

At one point the Cavaliers were down by 23, but fought back to tie it up at 104. Unfortunately Cleveland was not able to complete their rally as the Magic added five more points in the final minute to seal the Cavs loss.

Darius Garland was the leading scorer for the Cavaliers, finishing with 25 points in 39 minutes. While the scoring effort was impressive for Garland, the 14 missed shots were not great. Garland usually does not take this many shots during a game, but the absence of Collin Sexton led to his high shot count. If it was 14 missed shots between Garland and Sexton that would be a bit more palatable, but that was not the case.

Kevin Love is the other Cavaliers player of note. While Love did hit a three to tie the game at 104, his shooting performance was sub-par overall. Love went 2-10 from deep and finished with 6 points total. This is clearly not good enough from a player the Cavs needed to lean on with so many others out.

The Cavaliers return home to take on the Wizards Friday night.

Cleveland unable to complete sweep of Twins

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The Cleveland Baseball Club was unable to complete the sweep of the visiting Minnesota Twins, losing by a score of 10-2.

Entering Wednesday, the Cleveland Baseball Club had the chance to sweep the Minnesota Twins after a 7-4 win on Tuesday. Unfortunately things did not go their way as the Twins rediscovered their bats and pummeled Logan Allen in the process.

Allen only lasted 1.1 innings, allowing 6 runs on 5 hits in the process. It was home runs from Byron Buxton, Josh Donaldson, and Jorge Polanco which led to the early exit for Allen. The issue moving forward is that Allen has only pitched 5.2 innings combined over his last three starts. This is a problem and may result in a role change for Allen.

Cleveland did score two runs in the contest. The first coming on a solo home run from Amed Rosario, his second of the season.

https://twitter.com/hr_mlb/status/1387471862410715137?s=20

Cleveland’s second run was also scored by Rosario on a groundout from Yu Chang.

It is a day off Thursday for Cleveland before traveling to Chicago Friday to face the White Sox.

Cleveland looking to finish off sweep of Twins

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The Cleveland Baseball Club is looking to finish off the sweep of the visiting Minnesota Twins Wednesday afternoon (weather permitting).

The Cleveland Baseball Club won their second straight game over the Minnesota Twins thanks to some clutch home runs from Franmil Reyes. Now the Cleveland Baseball Club has a sweep in their sights in their third and final game of their series at home.

Logan Allen gets the call for Cleveland looking for two things in particular, a longer start and a better performance. Allen has only last 4.1 innings combined in his last two starts, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits including 3 home runs. The young lefty needs a correction in the worst way and Wednesday could provide that opportunity. Minnesota has not necessarily been a powerhouse this season and the fact they are without a few of their regular bats could be just the recipe for Allen to be heading in the right direction. If not, there could be questions about how Cleveland handles their pitching rotation moving forward.

The Twins will hand the ball to J.A. Happ who is having a start to the season no one expected. Happ has only allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 16 innings so far and that is significantly better than his past performances indicate his talent level to be. The 38-year old starter has a career 3.96 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, and 7.9 K/9 over his 15 years in the big leagues. At some point Happ will revert back to his career averages and that could be Wednesday in Cleveland.

Interestingly enough it is former Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario who has had some past success against Happ. Rosario is 4-13 with 2 home runs and a double when facing the Twins starter previously. Perhaps Rosario could be the player who takes advantage of Happ when it is all said and done.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 at Progressive Field as long as the weather wants to cooperate.

Cavaliers to host Magic Wednesday

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Orlando Magic Wednesday in a battle of teams that are all but eliminated from the postseason.

This will not be a game that will match the intensity of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals when the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. In fact, the end result seems almost destined to be the complete opposite. With one team regretting the fact that they won the battle of tanking teams.

Cleveland will again be without some key players according to Chris Fedor.

Those seven players mentioned by Fedor happen to be Collin Sexton, Dylan Windler, Taurean Prince, Isaiah Hartenstein, Larry Nance Jr., Matthew Dellavedova and Lamar Stevens. This will prove to be quite difficult for the Cavaliers to overcome, no matter the opponent.

Orlando comes in at 18-43 on the year, the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are 21-40 coming off a loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday. Neither team is particularly good which could result in the game being completely unentertaining. There is also an outcome that results in one being unable avert their eyes for one reason or another. The variance level in possible results for this game is so high that there is no definitive end.

Interestingly enough both teams are scoring and giving up almost the same amounts of points per game on the year. The Cavaliers are averaging 104 points for and 111 points against while the Magic average 104.3 and 112.7 respectively. The relative inability to score enough and defend adequately should provide for some intriguing moments in a game that is more about draft lottery odds than actually winning or building towards the future.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Franmil Reyes homers twice in Cleveland’s 7-4 win

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It was a two home run game for the power hitter as the Cleveland Baseball Club won their second straight game over Minnesota.

What’s better than one Franmil Reyes home run? Two Franmil Reyes home runs. The Cleveland Baseball Club slugger clobbered two long balls into the left field bleachers as they came away with a 7-4 victory over the Twins.

Cleveland hit three home runs in total, but the first did not come from Franmil Reyes. It was Jose Ramirez who came up to the plate and he found himself a home run pitch to cut the Twins lead to one.

Franmil Reyes was able to tie the game with his first big fly of the game the very next inning.

With the game tied at 3 in the 6th, it was Franmil Reyes again coming to the rescue. Reyes launched his second solo shot of the game.

Cleveland would add three more runs thanks to a Jake Bauers double in the 6th, a Cesar Hernandez walk in the 9th and Jordan Luplow getting hit by a pitch shortly after.

On the mound

Thanks to Franmil Reyes, the offense did their part. Now it was up to Aaron Civale to live up to his end of the deal. It was not the best performance for Civale as he allowed 4 runs on 8 hits while striking out 4. This was the most runs allowed in a start this season for the 25-year old hurler, but he was able to come away with his fourth win of the season. One of the more important aspects of this game was Civale working deep into the game. This allowed Terry Francona to use only more pitcher in the game, James Karinchak.

Karinchak came on in the 8th and pitched the final 1.1 innings of the game, striking out 2 of the 4 batters he faced. Karinchak finishing this game off is huge considering that Emmanuel Clase pitching in the two previous games.

Cleveland will look to complete the sweep Wednesday afternoon (weather permitting).

Asante Samuel Jr. to Browns in CBS mock draft

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A mock draft from Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports has the Cleveland Browns selecting the Florida State cornerback.

A mock draft appearing on CBS Sports has the Clevelnad Browns addressing a clear area of need, secondary. Even with the additions of John Johnson and Troy Hill, Cleveland still needs help and that is why this mock has Asante Samuel Jr. going to the Browns at 26 overall. Below is the reasoning from the author of the mock, Jonathan Jones.

He went to the Browns in my first mock and I’ll keep him there, even with Christian Barmore still available. Cleveland can invest heavily in the secondary.

Jonathan Jones on his explanation for why he has Asante Samuel Jr. to the Browns at 26

Pretty quick and straight to the point. Asante Samuel Jr. would be a great addition to the Browns that they can play opposite of Denzel Ward with the newly signed Hill covering the inside receivers. A clear weakness from last season could be turned into a strength if Cleveland decides to go this route.

A second player is mentioned in the mock, Christian Barmore, but with the reports of resistance to coaching surfacing that could keep the Browns from selecting the Alabama defensive lineman.