The Guardians shut out the Brewers for the second game in a row, earning Logan Allen a well deserved win.
The Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers faced off in Game 2 of the 3 game series. Logan T. Allen got the start for the Guardians, looking to bring back-to-back wins to Progressive Field.
Both pitchers worked very fast. A lead off single given up by Allen to Jackson Chourio to start the game quickly became a dangerous situation. Chourio, after watching José Ramírez steal three bases last night, stole second and then third with some great base running. Allen got out of the first inning without Chourio scoring, but the Brewers’ starting pitcher wasn’t as lucky.
In the bottom of the first, with two outs (Schneemann GIDP), José launched his seventh home run of the season.
LTA continued to make quick work of the Brewers, facing the minimum in the second, third, and fourth innings. In the top of the fifth, Allen had two outs and runners on first and second when Joey Ortiz grounded out to short for an easy 6-3 play to retire the side.
In the top of the fifth, the Guardians tried striking again. Bo Naylor drew a lead off walk, but Gabriel Arias grounded into a force out. Bo was out at second, but Arias was on first with only one out. Will Brennan popped a foul ball nearly into the Guardians dugout, but Andruw Monasterio made a great catch to snag the foul ball just over the rail of the dugout for the second out. Before Angel Martínez could see the third pitch of his at bat, Arias ran the side out of the inning attempt to steal second.
Logan Allen had a strong sixth inning, retiring the side without any damage despite a Chourio lead off double. Allen earned himself a quality start throwing six complete innings of shut out baseball. Allen kept the base runners to a minimum, only allowing four total. Three via hits and one via a walk. He struck out six and only threw 89 pitches.
In the top of the sixth, the Guards had another chance to score. Angel and Schneemann both reached base on singles to center. Ramírez tried battling into a long at bat, seeing nine pitches before popping out to short for the second out. Kyle Manzardo flied out to left to strand two and retire the side.
Matt Festa came on in relief in the top of the seventh inning. He faced the minimum, striking out two. In the top of the seventh the Guards struggled again with runners in scoring position. Carlos Santana walked, Will Brennan was hit by pitch, and Angel Martínez was hit by pitch to load the bases and force the Brewers to make a pitching change. Unfortunately for Cleveland, Steven Kwan is in his predictable May slump and flied out to center to strand four.
Hunter Gaddis pitched a dominant eighth inning, facing the 8-9-1 hitters and sending them all back down. In the bottom of the eighth, the Guards finally capitalized on having base runners. José Ramírez hit a one-out single to third that was more of an accidental swing that fell in a lucky spot. He scored from first with a timely triple by known speedster, Kyle Manzardo.
I’m not sure when it will be officially safe to say that Emmanuel Clase is back, but I think he might be back. Clase closed tonight’s game, facing the 2-3-4 part of the line up. He struck out two, hit 102mph on his cutter, and earned his ninth save in 18.1 innings pitched.
After being swept last year in Milwaukee, the Guardians are now looking for a sweep of their own. Game 3 is a 1:10 PM EDT day game with Gavin Williams starting for the Guardians. Hopefully the Guards can carry this shutout momentum and take a sweep into the Cincinnati series.