Category Archives: Game Recaps

Ramirez, Hernandez homer in win over Cubs

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Cleveland scored all of their runs on home runs in their 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

As per usual, the Cleveland Baseball Club scored all of their runs on home runs Tuesday night. Jose Ramirez was the first player to homer for Cleveland as he tied the game at 1 in the 4th inning.

Cesar Hernandez would follow up with a two-run shot to take the lead from Chicago.

This is pretty much how things have gone for Cleveland this season, when they score runs it is on the long ball.

As far as pitching was concerned it was another spectacular performance from Shane Bieber. Bieber struck out eight batters in 6.2 innings, extending one MLB record and closing in on another. Bieber’s MLB record of consecutive starts with eight or more strikeouts extended to 20 in a row and he is tied for second all-time in games with 7 or more strikeouts behind Randy Johnson.

Things were a little dicey in the 9th with Emmanuel Clase on the mound. Clase allowed two one-out singles before inducing a game-ending double-play to secure the 3-2 victory.

Cleveland remains 1 game behind the Chicago White Sox in the division after the win over the Cubs.

Cleveland bounces back to take down Reds

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The Cleveland Baseball Club pounded out 11 hits and scored nine runs as they bounced back to defeat the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

It was a much better time out for the Cleveland Baseball Club Saturday as they came back from being no-hit the day before and came away with a 9-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds. Cleveland did not have a problem when facing Luis Castillo as they managed to score 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits in 4 innings off the Reds starter. To say they were a bit happier to be facing Castillo in this contest is an understatement. Cleveland would score three more runs just two innings later off of Ryan Hendrix.

Cesar Hernandez led the Cleveland batters in the RBI department on the day, tripling with the bases loaded leading to Jake Bauers, Austin Hedges, and Andres Gimenez. Speaking of Bauers, the Cleveland first baseman went 2-4 in the contest as he is becoming a little more consistent at the plate recently. Josh Naylor went 2-3 with two runs scored as he is starting to heat up at the plate. Jose Ramirez also had two hits, going 2-5 with 2 RBI.

As far as pitching is concerned, it was Aaron Civale who had yet another impressive performance. Civale allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts as he was able to keep the Reds bats in check. Civale’s ERA now sits at 2.91 on the season and he continues to be one of Cleveland’s most consistent arms.

Cleveland no-hit again in loss to Reds

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The Cleveland Baseball Club was no-hit for the second time this season as they lost to the Cincinnati Red at home in a 3-0 loss.

Poor Zach Plesac. This is the second time this season that the Cleveland Baseball Club has been no-hit in one of his starts. While the loss is not on him, it was another expected lackluster effort at the plate for the team. Plesac was at least able to make it out of the 1st inning this time. In fact, Plesac lasted 8 innings and did not allow a run on 3 hits with 7 strikeouts.

Reds pitcher Wade Miley was outstanding as he kept the Cleveland offense in check all game long. Miley struck out eight Cleveland batters and walked one in his spectacular performance. This was the second time this season that the Cleveland offense found themselves in a situation where they were unable to get a hit.

The issue arose in the 9th inning when Terry Francona called upon Emmanuel Clase. Tito chose to go with Clase in a non-save situation and things unfolded exactly the way everyone expected them to. Clase gave up three hits which proceeded to three runs coming across to score (two earned) as he failed to record an out. While the rules about using a closer in a non-save situation are not written in stone, this tactic has be used very carefully. It did not work out well for Clase or Cleveland as those runs that scored were the difference in the game. This is not to put the blame all on Clase, the offense still was not able to hit. Even if Clase gets out of the inning unscathed they still were not touching Miley.

Cleveland will be looking for a rebound performance in Game 2 Saturday at 6:10 P.M.

Cleveland completes sweep of Royals

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The Cleveland Baseball Club completed the four game sweep of the Kansa City Royals.

After winning the first three games of their series with the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Baseball Club came into Thursday with a chance to sweep the series. That is just what they did after completing a 4-0 victory on the road to win their fifth straight game overall.

Triston McKenzie was the starter for Cleveland and this was the type of outing he truly needed. McKenzie only allowed 2 hits over 5 innings of work while striking out 5. The one area that still needs some work is the free passes as he walked 5 batters in the contest. Overall this is step in the right direction for the young pitcher.

The combination of Nick Sandlin and James Karinchak handled inning 6-8. Sandlin and Karinchak did not allow a hit and the only base runner allowed was on a walk by Karinchak.

The 9th inning got a bit dicey as the first two Royals reached base with Emmanuel Clase on the mound. Luckily Clase was able to get a double play ball and a strikeout to finish off the contest.

What about the offense?

Cleveland pounded out 11 hits in the contest as they scratched across 4 runs. The scoring started in the 2nd inning with Amed Rosario driving in Harold Ramirez.

The Cleveland lead increased to 2 with a RBI single from Jordan Luplow. Luplow drove in Rene Rivera on the play. Speaking of Rivera, the veteran catcher went 3-4 at the plate in his debut with the team, not too shabby.

In the 6th it was Rosario again, this time with triple that scored Franmil Reyes. With the two hits the contest Rosario’s batting average is back above .200 on the season.

Reyes came up to bat in the 8th and launched his eighth home run of the season to give Cleveland a little more room in the 9th.

Considering how that inning started it made things a big more palatable after the first two batters reached in the inning.

With the win Cleveland is now atop the American League Central at 17-13 on the year. They will return home to finish off their Ohio Cup series with the Reds starting Friday.

Cleveland comes back again in Kansas City

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The Cleveland Baseball Club rallied yet again to come away with a 5-4 road victory in Kansas City.

Just one day after scoring five unanswered runs and two after scoring seven in a row, the Cleveland Baseball Club scored five consecutive runs to defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-4. This was the third straight win over the Royals for Cleveland and all were in comeback fashion.

All four runs for Kansas City came with Shane Bieber on the mound. Only three of the runs that came across were earned, tied for his highest total in a game this season. However the four runs scoring is a season-high for Cleveland’s ace even though one was unearned. The nine hits allowed is a season-high and the 16 total over the last 12 innings is a bit concerning as hit totals are increasing in his last two starts. Although, history does say that this number will decrease as time goes on.

It was after Bieber left the game that the magic happened offensively for Cleveland. In the 8th inning they found themselves down 4-3 and Jose Ramirez proceeded to clobber a solo shot to tie the game off of former starter Jakob Junis.

With the game now tied at 4 it was Josh Naylor coming through in the clutch. Naylor managed to send a Wade Davis pitch over the right field fence, giving Cleveland a 5-4 lead.

After taking the lead it was James Karinchak who came on for the save. Karinchak struck out two of three batters faced on 14 pitches to secure the win for Cleveland.

Cleveland rallies to defeat Royals 7-3

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The Cleveland Baseball Club scored seven consecutive runs as they rallied to defeat the Kansas City Royals.

Things were not going great for the Cleveland Baseball Club early in Kansas City. A combination of the Royals getting 3-0 lead and Angel Hernandez just being plain awful made it seem like that it was not going to be their night. Luckily Cleveland was able to score seven unanswered runs from the 6th inning on as they managed to win the second game in a row in comeback fashion against Royals.

Everything got started when Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez committed a throwing error with the bases loaded. This led to two runs for Cleveland in the 6th inning. Harold Ramirez would follow with a game-tying RBI single.

Ramirez would drive in another run as he would double home Franmil Reyes in the 8th. Josh Naylor would subsequently drive in Ramirez with a single of his own. The Cleveland scoring run was capped off with a Jake Bauers two-run homer, his first of the year.

After an atrocious 1-17 start to the year, Bauers is starting to turn things around just a bit. Bauers is slashing .283/.375/.464 with an OPS of .839 over his last 33 plate appearances, including two doubles and one home run. There are two multi-hit outings mixed in with some hitless appearances along the way, but maybe things are heading in the right direction.

On the mound

It was an all hands on deck day for the Cleveland pitching staff. Phil Maton served as the opener, allowing 1 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in 1.1 innings. Sam Hentges would follow Maton, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits in his 3.1 innings of work.

Nick Sandlin and Nick Wittgren pitched the middle innings with neither player allowing a baserunner. Cal Quantrill would pitch the final two innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out two.

Cleveland is now one game back of division leaders Chicago and Kansas City. The Cleveland offense is struggling to find their stride, but as long as they have their pitching staff they have a puncher’s chance.

Cleveland uses 5-run 7th to secure victory

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The Cleveland Baseball Club used two home runs in a five-run 7th inning and win over Kansas City.

If there is one thing that the Cleveland Baseball Club has been missing this season it has been timely hitting. After Monday, it appears that the tide appears to be turning in this area. A five-run 7th inning against the Royals propelled the Cleveland Baseball Club to victory.

With the game tied at 3 late with Amed Rosario and Jose Ramirez on base it was Eddie Rosario who came to bat and he delivered. Rosario crushed his third home run of the season.

After Rosario’s home run it was Harold Ramirez reaching on a single and Josh Naylor channeling in his inner Franmil Reyes. Naylor hit his first home run of the season, extending the Cleveland lead to 5.

Kansas City did not roll over and accept defeat as they would score two more 3 more runs in the game, but it was not enough as Cleveland came away victorious.

Aaron Civale was Cleveland’s starter on the day and he pitched admirably. Civale allowed 3 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. While the stakeouts were a little lean, that was to be expected against this Royals team. Overall this is the type of outing expected from Civale.

Emmanuel Clase would come on for the save in the 9th. Clase allowed 1 hit and stuck out another to end the game. The flame-throwing closer only needed 13 pitches to secure the win for Cleveland.

Cleveland takes final game of series with White Sox

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The Cleveland Baseball Club took the final game of their three game road series with the Chicago White Sox .

After a disappointing outing on Saturday, the Cleveland Baseball Club needed a rebound performance if they were going to win their series with the Chicago White Sox. That is just what they got as a combination of good pitching and a couple of long balls gave Cleveland a 5-0 victory.

Zach Plesac was Cleveland’s starter and he was able to limit the White Sox bats this time around after being pummeled the previous two times. Chicago managed 3 hits and reached base 4 times on walks with Plesac on the mound, but were unable to score. Considering that Plesac allowed 12 runs in his previous 5.2 innings against the White Sox this was a huge win.

When Cleveland was up to bat it was a couple of home runs which helped their cause. First was Cesar Hernandez who clobbered a ball into center field, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

This was the second home run of the season for Hernandez and could be a sign of his bat starting to heat up. Hernandez has been dreadful at the plate this season and any sort of uptick in performance would be welcomed.

Jose Ramirez would come up to the plate with Cleveland leading by 2 and proceeded to launch a two-run shot over the right field fence.

The home run was the eighth of the season for Ramirez and gave Cleveland a few insurance runs late in the game.

Cleveland is now 1.5 games back of Chicago for second place in the division 3 back of the surprising Kansas City Royals. A trip to Kansas City is next as Cleveland will try to cut into the Royals early season division lead.

McKenzie gives up 5 runs in 7-3 Cleveland loss

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It was not a good day for the Cleveland Baseball Club pitcher as he allowed 5 runs in just two innings.

Things could not have gone much worse for Triston McKenzie in his start on Saturday. The Cleveland Baseball Club pitcher had trouble finding the zone and was issuing walks left and right. McKenzie walked the bases loaded with two outs in the inning, even walking in the first run of the game, but that wasn’t the worst part. Tim Anderson proceeded to hit a grand slam which would lead to McKenzie leaving the game when the inning was up.

After McKenzie’s exit Cleveland used five different pitchers to finish the game. Phil Maton was the only other pitcher to allow runs to score with Leury Garcia driving in both on a double in the 4th inning. Cal Quantrill would take over and work 1.2 innings in relief. Nick Sandlin, Nick Wittgren, and Kyle Nelson would pitch the final three innings with Nelson being the only one to allow a baserunner.

Even if McKenzie didn’t struggle it was not like the Cleveland bats were doing all that much. Cleveland finished with just 5 hits in the game with Josh Naylor leading the way with two. Jake Bauers, Yu Chang, and Austin Hedges were the only others with hits in the contest. Chicago’s combination of Lance Lynn and Michael Kopech proved to be too much for Cleveland as they were unable to string enough hits together.

The third and final game of the series will take place Sunday at 2:10 P.M.

Cleveland backs Bieber in 5-3 win

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The Cleveland Baseball Club defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-3 in their first game of their weekend series.

Friday night provided a great start for the Cleveland Baseball Club in Chicago. Cleveland got an excellent start from Shane Bieber and was able to score just enough off of Dallas Keuchel to come away with a 5-3 win.

Bieber did allow 3 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk, but that is not the focus of his performance. It was his 11 strikeouts that set yet another MLB record. It is Bieber’s 18th straight game with 8 or more strikeouts, a streak that dates back to 2019.

With the performance of Bieber all Cleveland had to do was score some runs and they delivered. Jose Ramirez got things started with a 2-RBI single in the 3rd inning to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. Franmil Reyes would follow as he grounded out allowing Jordan Luplow to score. One more run came across in the inning as Eddie Rosario drove in Ramirez with a single of his own.

It was the 8th inning which provided some fireworks. Jose Ramirez was up to bat in a a one-run game and he found a home run pitch.

This was a perfect insurance run for Cleveland as James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase pitched the final two innings. Karinchak struck out 2 while Clase allowed 1 hit on three groundouts.

Cleveland is now back to .500 on the year with this win and can get back above .500 with a win on Saturday. First pitch is at 4:05 P.M.