Guardians on a scorcher headed into All Star hiatus

The Guardians entered the All-Star Break on a four-game winning streak after they knocked off Miami, 5-2, on July 11. Cleveland swept the three-game series against the Marlins, who entered play on Friday winners of six straight.

Cleveland got home runs from Bryan Rocchio and Chase DeLauter and a strong start from Joe Cantillo, who allowed an earned run in five innings of work while scattering six hits and striking out nine. Cantillo is 8-4.  Cleveland improved to 51-46 with the win to remain tied for the American League Central lead with the White Sox. Chicago improved to 50-45 with a 9-1 win over Oakland.
Cleveland pitching shut down baseball's best hitter. Otto Lopez, the Marlins' outstanding young shortstop. Lopez was leading the MLB in batting average when the games started Friday, but when the weekend was over, he found himself in an 0-for-12 skid. Cleveland pitchers did not allow Lopez to get a hit. He capped off his nightmarish weekend with a 0-for-5 with a four-strikeout performance.
DeLauter and Rocchio have both been on a tear. Since July 1, Rocchio is hitting .317 with three homers and 10 RBI in 11 games. DeLauter has been hotter, hitting .326 with four home runs and 9 RBI in 11 games.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jose breaks through as Guards take over first

Image
 Jose Ramirez finally gave the Guardians what they were seeking from their perennial All-Star and MVP. A jolt of power. Ramirez hit a home run deep into the Cleveland night with two outs in the sixth inning and Cleveland clutching a one-run lead over the pesky Sacramento A’s. It upped the lead to 5-3 and set off a raucous celebration at sold-out Progressive Field as the Guardians went on to beat the Sacramento A’s by that 5-3 score and later on take over complete control of first place in the American League Central with just eight games left on the schedule. It was part of a big night for Ramirez, who went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs and scored a run to key a Cleveland offense that trailed 3-0 before it even batted. Cleveland improved to 79-75 with the win, while Chicago dropped to 78-76 after blowing an 8-2 lead at home in what turned out to be an 11-8 loss. Rookie Travis Bazzana continued his monster September with a solo home run, his fifth in September, whi...
Read more

Martinez grand slam keys Guardians win

Image
 Someone hit the pressure release valve, and his name was Angel Martinez. Martinez hit a grand slam home run and drove in six runs as the Guardians shook off a miserable series with the Mets by downing the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 on Aug. 7 in Chicago.  The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Cleveland and moved the Guardians to within two games of Chicago in the American League Central standings. Martinez connected for his grand slam in the fifth inning off of Chicago reliever David Sandlin. Hitting from the left side of the plate, Martinez hit a rocket deep into the right-field seats. It increased a precarious Cleveland lead from 2-1 to 6-1. The Cleveland dugout exploded in excitement watching the ball leave the park Parker Messick started and picked up the win, improving to 9-6. He went seven innings and allowed two runs while striking out eight and walking two. He gave up a pair of home runs. The three-game series with Chicago is a showdown for...
Read more

Guards move on to Angels after polishing off Rockies

Image
 Chase DeLauter hit not one but two triples and drove in two runs as the Guardians finished off a weekend sweep of the Rockies with a 7-2 win on Aug. 23 at Coors Field. It was Cleveland’s fourth straight win and fifth in six games. DeLauter, the rookie outfielder, tripled in his first at-bat of the contest and drove home Steven Kwan, who opened the game with a base hit, to give the Guardians an early 1-0 lead. Cleveland would collect a total of 12 hits. The top three of the lineup for Cleveland, that being Kwan, DeLauter and Jo Aadell, went 7-for-14 with four runs and four RBI. Lefty Foster Griffin did a five-and-fly, going five innings and getting his 15th win of the year. He allowed two earned runs and struck out five in five innings of work. DeLauter ended up going 3-for-4 with two RBI, scored two runs, and walked. Cleveland (65-66) is 3 1/2 games out of first place in the  AL Central according to MLB.com and was the third wild card team. The marathon that is a...
Read more