Tag Archives: Ernie Clement

Guardians take down Dodgers in L.A.

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The Cleveland Guardians took two of three games from the Dodgers in Los Angeles as their hot streak continues. It was a narrow 2-1 victory Friday night which seemingly put Cleveland in a very comfortable spot to take the series. It was later learned that Jose Ramirez was dealing with a thumb injury and would miss the final two games of the series. Predictably it was a Dodger bounce back Saturday, handing Cleveland a 7-1 loss. This game always felt like an automatic loss considering the team was unveiling Sandy Koufax’ statue that day. Add in the surrender lineup that started that game and it was all just a formality. All of this set the scene for Sunday.

Even without Ramirez and losing the second game in unspectacular fashion, the Guardians still had a chance to take down the Dodgers. Both teams traded runs like heavyweight fighters in a prize fight. Just when it felt like one team was going to create separation the other answered when given the opportunity. As the game progressed one thing became abundantly clear, it is going to come down who blinks first.

Luckily for Cleveland, Los Angeles blinked.

Opting to go with Craig Kimbrel in a 3-3 game in the ninth, the Dodgers committed the cardinal sin of pitching a closer in a non-save situation. This decision would come back to bit them as predictably Kimbrel did not have his best outing. Josh Naylor would follow Oscar Gonzalez’ one out walk with a double. Steven Kwan was issued an intentional walk which set the stage for Andres Gimenez. Gimenez would line a bases loaded single to drive in Gonzalez and give the Guardians a one run lead. Ernie Clement would follow with a sacrifice fly that allowed Naylor to score making it 5-3. This series events set up Emmanuel Clase well in the bottom half of the inning. Clase would face just three batters as he shut the door to secure the win.

What’s next?

This was the sixth straight series win for Cleveland as the team continues to build confidence. Before this run the Guardians were yet to win consecutive series this season. Being able to stack series wins on top of each other in this manner builds confidence and shows that this team is no pushover. Cleveland has won eight of their last 10 games and is 16-5 over the previous 21 which predates their series winning streak.

The Guardians find themselves one game behind of the Minnesota Twins at 34-28. Worth mentioning is that Minnesota has played six more games than Cleveland with two more losses than the Guardians. After an off day Monday it will be a three-game series with the division leading Twins which could see the American League Central have a new leader when all is said and done.

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.

Cleveland bounces back to beat Royals 4-1

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The Cleveland Baseball Club managed to bounce back from being swept in a doubleheader Monday with a 4-1 win Tuesday over the Kansas City Royals. 

Monday was not a great day as they were swept comfortably in a doubleheader at home by the Kansas City Royals. The good news is that Tuesday was a new day and they were able to come away with a 4-1 victory this time around.

Yu Chang got the scoring started for Cleveland as he came through with a bases loaded RBI triple with one out in the 1st.

Big Ernie Clement came up in the 2nd with one out and the bases empty and hit his third home run of the season.

While the scoring stopped for Cleveland in the 2nd, the four runs is all the needed with Cal Quantrill on the mound. Quantrill would allow just one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out six in 6.2 innings. The only run allowed by Quantrill was a solo home run from Hunter Dozier. A walk to Kyle Isbell in the next at-bat would result in Quantrill exiting the game. A combination of Blake Parker, Bryan Shaw, and Emmanuel Clase would handle the rest of the innings.

At 74-76 Cleveland still has a chance to finish at or above .500. The final game of their series with Kansas City is scheduled for Wednesday at  6:10 P.M. After that the White Sox come to town for five games beginning with a doubleheader Thursday as Chicago could clinch the division in Cleveland if not beforehand.

Cleveland defeats Detroit 7-5

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The Cleveland Baseball Club came away with a 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers after falling behind early.

Finding themselves down 5-2 in the 4th inning, things were not looking great early for the Cleveland Baseball Club. A short outing from Zach Plesac meant the team had to piece together 5 innings of pitching. Plesac allowed five runs on two hits with three walks as his struggles continue. Luckily, Cleveland scored five unanswered runs en route to a 7-5 victory.

The comeback started in the 4th with Oscar Mercado reaching on a walk. A throwing error from Tigers shortstop Zach Short resulted in Mercado on third and Owen Miller on second. Andres Gimenez would hit a sacrifice fly to bring Cleveland within two. A RBI single from Austin Hedges would make it a 5-4 game in the very next at-bat. Ernie Clement would follow with a RBI double, tying the game at 5.

In the 7th is when Cleveland would take the lead for good. Myles Straw reached on an infield single. Bradley Zimmer would step to the plate and crush a big fly to the right field stands, giving Cleveland a 7-5 lead.

James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase would lock down the 8th and 9th innings as Cleveland came away with a series and season win over the Tigers.

Cleveland will take on the Cincinnati Reds Monday in a makeup game from earlier this season. Afterwards the Oakland Athletics come to town for a three game series.

Cleveland manages to hold on for 5-4 win over Astros

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After losing the first two games and facing a sweep, the Cleveland Baseball Club managed to salvage a win Wednesday against the Houston Astros.

After a 9-3 drubbing Tuesday night, the Cleveland Baseball Club was staring a sweep right in the face. Cleveland and Houston traded runs back and forth from the 3rd through 6th innings. It was then that Cesar Hernandez stepped up to the plate and delivered with what ended up being a game-winning solo home run.

It was the 16th home run of the season for Hernandez, which is a single-season high for the second baseman. Hernandez would finish the game 2-4 with two runs driven in, including a RBI double in the top of the 3rd which got the scoring started.

Houston would fire back after Cleveland’s first run with solo home runs from Jose Altuvve in the 4th and Kyle Tucker in the 5th. The 6th inning set up an epic moment for Ernie Clement. Big Ern stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and drove in Oscar Mercado, Franmil Reyes, and Bobby Bradley to give Cleveland a 4-2 lead. The Astros would again answer with RBI hits from Altuve and Yuli Gurriel. This all led to the solo shot from Hernandez in the top of the 7th.

Eli Morgan was the starter for Cleveland and it was one of the better starts of his young career. Morgan allowed three runs on three hits over 3 innings while striking out five. Bryan Shaw would relieve Morgan in the 6th, allowing the game tying single from Gurriel. Phil Maton was the last Cleveland pitcher to allow a baserunner, an infield single to Myles Straw. The combo of Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak handled the 8th and 9th, earning a hold (5) and save (11) respectively.

With the win Cleveland trails Chicago by 8.5 in the division while trailing Oakland by 5 for the second wild card spot. A trip home awaits the team as they begin a huge series with the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday.

Cleveland dominates Detroit in 13-5 win

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The Cleveland Baseball Club completely dominated the visiting Detroit Tigers with a season-high 13 runs in their eight run victory.

After a weekend that saw the Cleveland Baseball Club drop two of three to the Minnesota Twins and lose Josh Naylor for the foreseeable future, a big offensive showing was desperately needed. Luckily for the Cleveland, the Tigers came to town and they teed off on the Detroit pitching staff.

Cleveland raced out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st with a RBI groundout from Jose Ramirez and a sacrifice fly from Eddie Rosario, driving in Cesar Hernandez and Amed Rosario respectively. After the Tigers scored a run in the 2nd, Cleveland added three more to their total. Bradley Zimmer drove in Harold Ramirez to bring their lead back to two. Austin Hedges would follow with a two-run homer, his fourth of the season.

Detroit would score again the 4th to cut into the Cleveland lead yet again. Just like earlier in the game Cleveland would answer with four runs in the inning. Cesar Hernandez would drive in Ernie Clement to make it a 6-2 lead. Jose Ramirez came up next and clobbered a three-run homer to increase the lead to seven.

The Tigers would answer again on a two-run homer to cut the lead to five. Cleveland’s lead would again grow back to seven thanks to a RBI single from Harold Ramirez and a sacrifice fly from Austin Hedges.

Eddie Rosario would double home Jose Ramirez in the 6th to make it a 12-4 game. Then in the 7th Jose Ramirez would drive in his fifth run of the game on a RBI single allowing Ernie Clement to score.

Cleveland’s pitching does just enough

With the way that Cleveland’s offense has been this season, giving up five runs in a game might end up with a loss. Thankfully the offense decided to unload on the Tigers allowing a lot of breathing room for a depleted pitching staff.

Eli Morgan won his first career game despite allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Three of the four runs allowed by Morgan came on the long ball as Miguel Cabrera and Jake Rogers took him deep.

Nick Sandlin would pitch a scoreless 6th inning with two strikeouts and Blake Parker struck out all three batters he faced in the 7th.

Nick Wittgren was the only other Cleveland pitcher to allow a run. Wittgren surrendered a solo home run Robbie Grossman in the 8th. Bryan Shaw would pitch the final frame, walking one and striking out another.

Game 2 between Cleveland and Detroit will take place at 7:10 P.M. Tuesday at Progressive Field.

Cleveland uses five run 4th to defeat Orioles 7-2

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The Cleveland baseball Club used a five run 4th inning to propel themselves to victory.

There’s something special about one of those innings when a team looks unstoppable for a brief moment. That is exactly what happened for the Cleveland Baseball Club Tuesday night when facing Orioles starter Matt Harvey. Entering the bottom of the 4th with the game tied at one, Cleveland rallied and scored five runs in the inning to send Harvey to an early shower. This was more than enough for Cleveland to put the game away, claiming the second win in a row over Baltimore, a team that has now lost 17 straight road games.

It was RBI hits from Ernie Clement, his first major league hit, Bradley Zimmer, Amed Rosario, and Eddie Rosario which led to the runs being scored in the decisive 4th inning. Somehow, someway, this team is managing to score runs and continues to win games.

There were also two runs driven in other innings in the contest, both by Bobby Bradley. It was a RBI single in the first and a solo homer in the 7th. Since being called up Bradley has been on absolute tear and has been a welcome addition to the Cleveland lineup.

Pitching wise it was a pieced together effort from multiple arms. Cal Quantrill handled the first 4 innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts. Blake Parker took the 5th inning and was the only other Cleveland pitcher to allow a run. Phil Maton pitched the 6th and was the final pitcher to allow a hit. Nick Wittgren manned the 7th and was the only pitcher to issue a walk in the contest. James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase did their usual things in the 8th and 9th by keeping Baltimore off the base-paths and striking out four batters combined.

Cleveland options three, reassigns another

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The Cleveland Baseball Club optioned three more players Saturday while reassigning another as their roster begins to take shape.

The roster moves keep coming for the Cleveland Baseball Club. After the team made a total of seven roster moves Friday they made another four Saturday. Ernie Clement, Sam Hentges, and Gabriel Arias have been optioned to the minors while Gavin Collins has been reassigned.

Clement and Arias obviously did not have a path to the major league roster with how crowded the infield already is. Hentges could have been a candidate to be a bullpen arm, but the club has decided to look in another direction for the time being. Collins really didn’t have a shot to make the roster considering the team already has Roberto Perez and Austin Hedges manning the catcher position.