Guards blow one late thanks to leaky bullpen

Baseball is a funny game. And it can drive you crazy. Like the Guardians loss on April 17 to the Orioles.
Daniel Schneemann’s grand slam home run in the bottom of the seventh snapped a scoreless duel and gave Cleveland a 4-0 lead.
But the Cleveland bullpen melted down during a six-run eighth inning, and the Orioles came off the canvas to stun the Guardians 6-4.
Jeremiah Jackson’s 3-run home run off reliever Connor Brodgon turned out to be the game-winner for the Orioles. I can still see it soaring into the night air and over the wall in right-center field. I had sweet seats in the lower deck along the first-base line. I enjoyed the same great view of Schneemann’s grand slam. I watched that ball streak through the night sky and into the seats.
Cleveland reliever Shawn Armstrong started the fire by loading the bases on a pair of walks sandwiched around a hit by pitch.
Erik Sabrowski came on and allowed a run-scoring double and got a sac fly to cut the lead to 4-2 and ultimately gave way to Brogdon, who gave up the gopher ball to Jackson and wore the goat horns on the night.
Cleveland had ample chances to score but went just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners total.
Tanner Bibee started and hurled six shutout innings. He allowed four hits while striking out five and walking three.
The loss dropped Cleveland to 11-10 overall.
Nice Friday night crowd on hand to see Cleveland break out the City Connect unis.
Attendance was 23,988. They enjoyed a 64-degree night. But not the work of the bullpen. A leaky bullpen is something new in Cleveland. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Cleveland’s bullpen was elite. Led by closer Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland perfected a formula of getting five or six innings out of its starters and then handing the game over to the bullpen.
In 2024, Clase led the American League in saves. He was on pace to be one of the top closers in the game last year when he was suspended in a gambling investigation. Cade Smith slipped over into the closer role, but he has not been as automatic as Clase.
The loss to the Orioles was a gut punch. No doubt about it. Nothing worse than to start the weekend with a blown lead loss The good news is there is a game on April 18. Cleveland runs out Gavin Williams, its hard-throwing right-hander out on the mound for 6:10 p.m. start. Baltimore counters with Dean Kremer.

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