Guards head north to take on Toronto

The Guardians head north of the border for a three-game series with Toronto beginning tonight.

Gavin Williams, the big right-hander who has been hard to hit, takes the mound for Cleveland against Max Scherzer. Williams has been one of the best starters in the American League since the All-Star break in 2025. Entering tonight, his ERA is a miserly 2.16 in that time frame. This year, his ERA is 2.13, and he’s struck out 40 hitters in 29 2/3 innings.
Toronto is 10-14. But don’t let the sub-500 record fool you. They went to the World Series last fall. They have one of the best hitters in baseball in Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Cleveland needs to get its offense going . Jose Ramierez and Brayan Rocchio have gotten it going as of late, but the rest of the lineup is up and down, with a lot of down.
Looking mostly at your catcher Bo Naylor, with your .130 average and one home run and 3 RBI>
Toronto has strong pitching lined up in the series. The Saturday afternoon 3:07 p.m. game the Blue Jays will run out Kevin Gausman and Sunday they will start Dylan Cease. Toronto is dangerous. They do have a lot injuries, but they are at home and Vlad Guerrero Jr. looks ready to pop off.  A team doesn't just fall off after going to the World Series the year before.
Former Guardian Andres Giminez plays in Toronto. He is hitting .267 with three homers and 12 RBI. He is also an elite defender and now plays shortstop after being a Gold Glove second baseman in Cleveland. Ernie Clement also played for Cleveland and is hitting .320 for Toronto, where he is now the second baseman.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guards blow one late in loss to Cards

 The Guardians lost a heartbreaker in St. Louis. St. Louis came from behind to beat Cleveland 6-5 in 10 innings. The Guards looked on the road to a win. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Juan Brito booted an easy ground ball on what should have been the third out. The boot extended the inning, allowing St. Louis to eventually tie the game at 5. Jose Ramirez continued his hot hitting with two hits and his third home run of the season to lead the Cleveland offense. Daniel Schneeman also homered for Cleveland, which fell to 10-8 on the season. Joey Cantillo started for Cleveland but did not register a decision. Steven Kwan made a sensational diving catch in center field, but that great defense was undone by Brito’s boot. We must not be too hard on Brito. He is a rookie. It was just last week that he was rushed up to the Majors after Gabe Arias blew out his hamstring. The great thing about baseball is that there is another game tonight. Game 3 of the series is in St. Lou...
Read more

Getting back on track thanks to Rocchio

What a difference a day makes, 24 wee little hours. A day ago, we were ready to write off the 2026 Guardians after the bullpen meltdown in a 6-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Things are looking a whole lot brighter on this, the evening of April 18, after Cleveland dispatched of Baltimore 4-2. Starting pitcher Gavin Williams was dominant, shortstop Brayan Rocchio hit a big three-run home run, and slump-ridden catcher Bo Naylor hit his first home run of the year as the Guardians improved to 12-10 on the year. Williams pitched like the No. 1 that maybe he is becoming. He struck out 11 and allowed a single run in seven innings of work. MLB.com called it an 11-K gem. It also improved him to 3-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to a skinny 2.12. Played on a 53-degree night under overcast skies, 20,783 attended the proceedings. Cade Smith struck out the side to record his fifth save of the year. Baltimore starter Dean Kramer was the hard-luck loser. He allowed just two hits and struck out ...
Read more

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 ...
Read more