Chappie's Grave

The Guardians split two games with Tampa Bay on April 28 and April 29. Tampa Bay pitchers shut out Cleveland hitters in a 1-0 win on April 28, but Cleveland came back behind the dominant pitching of Gavin Williams to win the matinee on April 29, 3-1. Williams struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings of work as he stopped the Guardians season-high four-game losing streak. He improved his record this year to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.70. The loss snapped Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak. Cleveland is off on April 30 before beginning a two-city road trip in Sacramento and Kansas City. In the April 29 win, Brayann Rocchio led the Cleveland offense with three hits and scored two runs. Chase DeLauter had a big 2-run single. The two games saw the debut of Guardians highly touted prospect Travis Bazzana. The second baseman walked twice in his Major League debut on April 28 and followed that up with a 0-for-4 effort on April 29.  Much is expected of Bazzanna, whom the Guardians selected No. 1...

 The Guardians are a .500 baseball team. They are 15-15 after their 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay on April 27. It was Cleveland’s third straight loss. This is how seasons unravel. Daniel Schneemann, who has come out of nowhere to be one of the top offensive players for Cleveland, gave it a 2-0 lead early with a fifth-inning home run, but the bullpen could not hold on. The Guardians tried to rally, putting runners on second and third with one out, but could not close the deal in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Guardians made the decision after the game to bring up prospect Travis Bazzana from the Triple-A Columbus. Cleveland’s bullpen took the loss. Tampa Bay rallied off Hunter Gaddis for the  win. Parker Messick started for Cleveland. He went 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking two. He allowed three hits and one earned run. Jonathan Aranda homered and Ryan Vilade drove in 2 runs to lead Tampa Bay.  Cleveland continues the homestand tonight at 6:10 p.m. Tanner Bibee (...

 Toronto jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the home half of the first inning, and Cleveland never recovered as the Blue Jays won 4-2 on April 26 in the third game of a three-game weekend series. Toronto won the last two games of the series. Cleveland fell to 15-14 and has lost its last two series. Cade Ceconni took the loss and dropped to 0-4 on the year. He allowed two runs in the first inning but settled down until the sixth inning when Jesus Sanchez touched him for a 2-run home run. Cleveland’s offense was flummoxed by Toronto starter lefty Patrick Corbin, who allowed two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Vlad Guerrero Jr. had three hits, scored a run, and drove in a run. He is hitting .340 on the year.   Angel Martinez had two hits and an RBI for Cleveland, which now comes back home to face Tampa Bay. Cleveland was 2-for-8 with runners in scoring positon and it left nine runners on base. The Guardians return home to take on Tampa Bay. Not an exciting opponent, but one th...

The Guardians dropped a tough one in Game 2 of the weekend series with Toronto on April 25 at Rogers Center. This one unravelled when old friend Andres Gimenez hit a double into the left field corner to give the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Giminez played gold glove second base for Cleveland from 2021 throught 2024. David Fry hit his first home run and drove in his first run of the season to lead a sluggish Cleveland offense. Kyle Manzardo came off the bench to provide a pinch-hit RBI double in the top of the ninth inning, but it would not be enough for Cleveland, which fell to 15-13 on the season while Toronto improved to 11-15. Kevin Gausman earned the win for Toronto. Pitching 6 2/3 innings, he allowed two runs and struck out three. The game took 2:35 to play, and 41,543 attended. Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Oakamatu homered for the second straight game. He drove in two runs and scored two runs to go with his two hits. The mini road trip and the series ...

 Angel Martinez hit a pair of home runs to power the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-6 win over Toronto on April 23 at Rogers Center. Cleveland scored five times in the first inning and was able to hold off Toronto the rest of the way. Daniel Schneemann got the Guardians started right, leading the game off with a home run off Toronto starter Max Scherzer.  George Valera added a two-run double, and Martinez hit the first of his two dingers, a two-run shot. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com pointed out that Martinez and Schneeman made up for the absence of Steven Kwan in the lineup. Manager Stephen Vogt gave Kwan the day off to rest his legs. “Left unsaid was that Kwan’s .227 batting average could use a rest as well,” Hoynes noted. Schneemann took over the lead-off spot, and Martinez played an outfield spot in place of Kwan. The two homered off future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer, who looked all of his 41 years of age. Cleveland right-hander Gavin Williams earned the win, but had to battl...

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 ru...

 On a sunsplashed Wednesday afternoon, Yordan Alvarez ruined things early. Alvarez hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and that was all Houston would need to get by the Guardians, 2-0 on April 22. Alvarez smoked his homer off Guardians’ starting pitcher Tanner Bibee, who probably deserved a better fate than recording his third loss of the year without a win. Cleveland’s offense was limited to just five hits. Houston starter Peter Lambert entered the game with a career ERA of 6.15 and a 9-20 record. He limited Cleveland to just three hits over six innings while striking out eight. Chase DeLauter collected a pair of hits for Cleveland. Biibee allowed five hits and two runs in six innings. He struck out three and walked two. Carlos Correa touched him up for a double to start the game, and soon after, Alvarez took him deep into the blue seats in right field. Cleveland was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Cleveland lost two of three in the series to Houston and fell to ...