Category Archives: Game Recaps

Guardians manage 12 hits in win over Royals

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It was a hit parade down on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario as the Guardians tallied 12 hits in their 8-3 win over the Royals.

Amed Rosario, Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez, and Oscar Gonzalez each collected two hits in the contest. Rosario would double and triple while Gonzalez managed another double. Gonzalez (2), Gimenez, and Clement would each drive in runs.

Austin Hedges may have had just one hit, but he made it count. Hedgey hit a three-run shot in the 3rd to increase the Guardians lead at the time to four. Owen Miller did manage a hit in four at-bats in addition to driving in a run on a groundout.

The truly interesting part of the Guardians performance is that Jose Ramirez had one hit in two at-bats. This is due to Kansas City intentionally walking Ramirez in his first two plate appearances in addition to a traditional walk later in the game. Considering that Ramirez is the current American League Player of the Week it is hard to question their thought process. Make any non-Ramirez player beat them, fortunately for the Guardians it worked out in their favor.

On the mound

Taking the mound for the Guardians was Cal Quantrill. Quantrill would allow three runs in 6.1 innings on six hits while striking out five. This was the third straight game which saw Quantrill pitch at least 6 innings while allowing three runs or less.

Sam Hentges would record the final two outs of the 7th, striking out one and allowing just one hit.

Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Shaw would not allow a hit during the 8th and 9th innings with the latter walking two.

What’s next?

A potential series sweep awaits the Guardians as their three game set with the Royals wraps up Wednesday afternoon. A win in the series finale would bring Cleveland within two games of .500 and set them up nicely to eclipse it with their upcoming three game set in Baltimore.

Ramirez, Gimenez homer in Guardians win

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After a disappointing series in Detroit, the Cleveland Guardians came home to take on the lowly Kansas City Royals. Facing this opponent at home was what the Guardians needed as they came away with a 7-3 win.

Home runs from Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez drove in five of Cleveland’s seven runs. Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the 3rd to break a 1-1 tie. Gimenez broke a 3-3 tie in the 5th with a three-run shot.

Zach Plesac was the Guardians starting pitcher and had a bounce back performance on the mound. Plesac allowed one run on hits and a walk while striking out five in 6 innings. This is the polar opposite of his last outing which saw Plesac surrender seven runs on nine hits in just 4.2 innings.

Eli Morgan, Trevor Stephan, Nick Sandlin, and Emmanuel Clase. Morgan and Clase were spectacular as they combined for four strikeouts while the latter allowed one hit. Stephan failed to record an out while allowing two runs on three hits. Sandlin did not allow a hit or run, but walked three batters.

Other Guardians of note

Oscar Gonzalez keeps chugging along with another 2-4 day. Gonzalez is currently hitting .438 in four games this season.

Steven Kwan was 1-3 with his second triple of the season. Kwan’s steal of second in the 2nd was his second stolen base of the year.

What’s next?

The series at home continues as the Guardians look to secure a win before the final game of the series. Cleveland’s starter is Cal Quantrill while Kansas City will start Daniel Lynch.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 P.M.

Guardians drop series finale in Detroit

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The Cleveland Guardians had a chance to win their series with Detroit but an offensive dud led to a disappointing 2-1 loss. Cleveland won Saturday’s contest by a comfortable 8-1 margin.

While Cleveland had seven hits to Detroit’s four, zero came from the top three batters in the lineup. Myles Straw, Amed Rosario, and Jose Ramirez combined to go 0-11 with Ramirez walking once. Adding the nine hole hitter Steven Kwan to this total makes it a disappointing 0-14. Kwan did reach on a fielder’s choice in the 5th.

Tristan McKenzie surrendered solo home runs to Harold Castro and Jeimer Candelario. Candelario came on for an injured Robbie Grossman in the 3rd. Besides the home runs it was a good outing for McKenzie. McKenzie struck out eight batters while walking one in 7.2 innings. This was the type of performance that should have led to a Guardians win, but the offense let him down.

Cleveland did score a run on a Luke Maile sacrifice fly in the 7th. Andres Gimenez would be the lone Guardians player to come across home plate in the contest.

A return home is in order as the Guardians will take on the Royals for a three game set beginning on Memorial Day.

Ramirez, Bieber lead Guardians past Tigers

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It was the combined efforts of Jose Ramirez and Shane Bieber that propelled the Cleveland Guardians over the Detroit Tigers with an 8-1 win.

Ramirez went 2-4 with five RBI thanks to a bases clearing triple and a two-run homer. In addition to what he did at the plate, Ramirez scored three times, walked once, and stolen base. Josh Naylor also had a productive day at the plate going 2-5 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored.

Bieber struck out five Tigers in 8 innings. The Guardians starter scattered eight hits while allowing just one run. This outing combined with Cleveland’s offense taking advantage of Detroit’s pitching led to a much needed win Saturday.

The early success of Oscar Gonzalez also continued. Gonzalez again went 2-4, one of those hits being a double. Another young outfielder, Richie Palacios, joined Gonzalez in the quest for playing time. Palacios got two hits in four at-bats with an RBI and a run scored. Both Gonzalez and Palacios have found playing time due to Franmil Reyes landing on the list. So far they have taken advantage as they may push another outfielder off the roster considering how the unit has performed so far.

The third and final game of the series (thanks to Friday’s’ postponement) will take place Sunday at 1:40 with Triston McKenzie starting for the Guardians while Elvin Rodriguez will be Detroit’s counterpart.

Guardians walked off by Tigers

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With the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the 9th the Guardians were looking to extend the game to extras for a chance to win. Unfortunately Cleveland Miguel Cabrera had other ideas. The future hall of famer proceeded to hit a walk-off RBI single to hand the Guardys a 4-3 loss.

Prior to the Cabrera’s walk-off single there was a fairly prolonged scoring drought. The two clubs combined for six runs in three innings before going scoreless until the 9th. Detroit scored two runs over the first two innings while Cleveland answered in the 3rd with three runs. It was Luke Maile who got the Guardians on the board first followed by an Owen Miller two-run double to tie the game. After the 3rd inning there were several three up and three down innings by both teams which led to a finish just under three hours.

Pitching for the Guardians was Konnor Pilkington, essentially a last second replacement for Aaron Civale who landed on the IL with a glute injury. Pilkington would allow three runs on seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts in just 3.1 innings of work. Inefficiency would be the way to describe this outing as Pilkington threw 87 pitches 49 of which were for strikes. The Guardians pitcher was lucky to be facing an offensively inept squad in Detroit. If a competent offensive team of any kind was in the other dugout Pilkington’s night could have been over earlier with much more damage on the scoreboard.

Looking forward

The Guardians are now 18-23 on the year which has them in third place in the AL Central, seven games back of the division leading Twins. There are three more games left in Detroit for Cleveland to get back on the right track and being their record closer to .500. If not, some players could be on their way out as the club could become an early seller.

Guardians fall to Astros, lose 2-1

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Offense was hard to come by for both teams as the Guardians and Astros combined for just three runs. Problem for Cleveland is that Houston managed to win by a 2-1 final score.

Cleveland managed just four hits and three walks in the contest. Reaching base was Amed Rosario (1-4), Jose Ramirez (1-3, BB), Josh Naylor (0-3, BB), Andres Gimenez (1-4), Ernie Clement (1-4), and Austin Hedges (0-2, BB). This simply is not good enough, especially considering the Guardians struck out 12 times in the loss.

Contrary to the loss on Tuesday, pitching was not the problem here. Cal Quantrill did more than enough to give Cleveland a chance to win only to be let down by the bats. Quantrill allowed just two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two. Trevor Stephan and Bryan Shaw pitched two innings striking out four.

The Guardians are playing as expected currently. Cleveland is undergoing a transition period and that leads to disappointing losses such as this one and surprising wins like Monday.

The road trip continues as the Guardians travel to Detroit for a four-game series with the Tigers. It was a two game split last weekend in Cleveland between the two clubs.

Guardians lose to Astros 7-3

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The same kind of success was not there for the Cleveland Guardians Tuesday night as they lost to the Houston Astros by a score of 7-3. This comes following Monday’s comfortable 6-1 victory at Minute Maid Park.

Zach Plesac was Cleveland’s pitcher and was able to keep things close until the 5th inning. Houston would add four runs to their total as they managed to chase Plesac before he could finish the inning. It was a rough night for Plesac as the seven runs allowed were more than his two previous status combined (six). The nine hits in 4.2 innings was just two fewer than the 11 allowed over 12 innings against the White Sox and Reds. This is the long way of saying it was not his night. 

The Guardians did manage to get on the board first thanks to a Jose Ramirez solo shot (surprise, surprise). Ramirez battled Framber Valdez for 11 pitches before depositing the 12th into the Crawford Boxes in left field for his 11th big fly of the season. Cleveland’s third baseman would drive in another run via a groundout in the 6th with the game already all but over. 

After splitting the first two games of the series a rubber match awaits the Guardians and Astros Wednesday night.  Cleveland will turn to Cal Quantrill while Houston sends Cristian Javier to the mound. 

With Tuesday’s loss Cleveland is now 18-21 on the season, seven games back of the first place Minnesota Twins.

Guardians come out on top in Houston, win 6-1

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Getting a win against the Astros is not easy, especially if the game is in Houston. That is just what the Guardians did Monday night. Cleveland came into Minute Maid Park and handed the AL West leaders a 6-1 loss.

Propelling the Guardians offense was none other than Jose Ramirez. With Cleveland clinging to a 2-0 lead, it was Ramirez who doubled that with a two-run shot in the 5th. The perennial MVP candidate would finish the game 2-5 with four RBI.

Triston McKenzie was dominant on the mound, allowing just three hits while walking one over 7 innings with one run coming across to score. Nick Sandlin, Sam Hentges, and Emmanuel Clase would handle the final two frames.

This was a much needed win for the Guardina as they are coming off a 1-3 stretch against two of the worst teams in baseball (Reds, Tigers). While a series win should not be the expectation against Houston, winning one and being competitive in the other two is a realistic outcome. So far so good as one game has already gone to Cleveland’s way.

Game 2 will take place at 8:10 P.M. with Zach Plesac and Framber Valdez starting for each side.

Guardians lose to Tigers 4-2

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After a postponement the day before and a slight delay Sunday the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers played the final game of their series. With Cleveland winning the first game there was the opportunity to complete the now two-game sweep. Unfortunately the Tigers had other ideas as they used a Josh Naylor error in the fifth and some late game heroics from Javier Baez in the 8th to hand Cleveland the loss.

Speaking of Naylor, the Cleveland first baseman had some positive impacts on the game. Naylor did tie the game at 2 in the 4th with his sixth home run of the season. Naylor did give the Guardians did have a chance in the 9th after he was hit on the elbow with a pitch giving Franmil Reyes the prime chance to tie the game late. Reyes would hit a deep fly ball that died on the warning track and Andres Gimenez grounded into a double play in the next at-bat to end the game.

Pitching for Cleveland was Shane Bieber as he struck out 10 over 7 innings while allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. Velocity continues to be an issue for Bieber as he continues to live in the lower 90’s. There is way to make this work, but it is incredibly difficult and requires pinpoint command. Bieber has incredible command and is very much impressive in this department. Although like everyone else in the world he is not perfect and it can escape him occasionally.

Due up

At 17-20 the Guardians are in third place in the American League Central behind first place Minnesota by 5.5 games. Cleveland will travel to Houston for a three game set with the Astros before heading to Detroit for a four game series with the Tigers to close out the week.

Guardians snap losing streak with win over Detroit

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The Cleveland Guardians got a boost from Jose Ramirez in their much needed win over the Detroit Tigers Friday night.

After losing to the Cincinnati Reds in rather embarrassing fashion, the Cleveland Guardians needed to rebound quickly. Enter the Detroit Tigers. Detroit came in with one of the worst records in all of baseball and was just what Cleveland needed as the Guardians came away with a comfortable 6-1 victory Friday night.

Jose Ramirez powered the Cleveland offense, going 2-4 at the plate including a three-run homer in the 6th. This three-run blast was the ninth of the season for the Guardians third baseman.

This gave the Guardians a 4-0 lead and would be more than enough to secure the win even with the Tigers answering with a run the next inning. Ramirez was able to make his return to the lineup just one day after fouling a ball off of his shin leaving his availability in doubt. Most expected Ramirez to at least take a game off, but that was not meant to be. The best third baseman in all of baseball made a sizable impact for the Guardians despite the sore shin.

In order for Cleveland to win this game they were going to need a good outing from Aaron Civale and that’s just what they got. Civale had his best performance of the season, allowing three hits and one walk over 6.1 innings with an unearned run scoring.

Friday’s win snaps a three-game losing streak to some less than stellar opponents (Reds, Twins). Being able to get back on track and defeat a type of opponent they struggled with recently is a step in the right direction. The Guardians have two more games at home against the lowly Tigers before heading out on a road trip next week.