Guards remain hot with win in Anaheim

 \Make that five wins in a row for the Guardians. Austin Hedges hit a huge two-run home run, and Parker Messick provided another strong start as the Guardians won their fifth game in a row, 4-2 over the Angels on Aug. 25 in Disneyland, AKA Anaheim.

The win moved the Guardians back to the .500 mark at 66-66 and to within 2 1/2 games of the White Sox in the AL Central lead.
With the Guardians holding a slim 2-1 lead with two outs in the top of the sixth, Hedges connected for his fifth homer of the year to give Cleveland a 4-1 lead.
The win lifted Cleveland back to the .500 mark for the first time since the morning of Aug. 5 when they were 57-57.
Hedges is having a career year. Entering the 2026 campaign, he boasted just a career batting average of .185 over 11 seasons. This season he is hitting .270 with an on-base percentage of .338 and a slugging average of .397.
The key to the turnaround?
“I’ve got a plan, and I commit to it,” Hedges told MLB.com.
Messick, the rookie lefty who also made the All-Star team, picked up the win to improve to 10-8. He went six innings, struck out four and walked one while allowing one earned run.
Cleveland, all of a sudden, has won 7 out of 10, while Chicago is 5-5 over its last 10 games. Cleveland moved into sole possession of the third and final wild card slot in the American League.
A key to Cleveland’s resurgence has been the hitting of outfielder Joe Adell. In his return to Anaheim, he had an RBI, his 18th with Cleveland since coming to the Guardians in a trade with the Angels at the deadline.
Notes
Chase DeLauter was a late scratch from the lineup. He felt tightness in his left hamstring in warm-ups, and Cleveland elected to rest its rookie outfielder.
The Angels fell to 52-80 with the loss. At one point, the fans started chanting “Sell the Team,” to display its unhappiness with current owner Arte Moreno.

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