Game recap for Tuesday, May 27th, 2025.
The Cleveland Guardians and LA Dodgers faced off for game two of the three game series. After dropping the game last night against the Dodgers best, Tanner Bibee looked to add another win to his record.
Tanner Bibee had a strong first inning. He gave up a single, but struck out three.
Bibee struggled in the second inning to keep the overpriced Dodgers lineup at bay. He allowed four base runners before Tommy Edman grounded into a double play. He intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani and gave up a walk to Mookie before retiring the side via a Freddy Freeman strikeout. In the top of the fourth, Bibee gave up a two out single to Edman. In the next at bat Ohtani hit a two-out, two-run homer to the home run porch. Bibee finished the night throwing 5.0 innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out seven.
In the bottom of the fourth the Guardians closed the lead to one. José Ramírez kicked things off with a lead off single, extending his hitting streak to 20 games. He also tacked on another stolen base during Kyle Manzardo’s at bat.
Carlos Santana drew a one-out walk to set things up for Daniel Schneemann. Schneemann hit a no doubter 3-run home run to right field.
Hunter Gaddis came in the sixth inning to face the bottom half of the order. Gaddis allowed one run, a solo homer, on one hit. He struck out two in his inning of work. Tim Herrin took over for the top of seventh, striking out Ohtani, facing the minimum before retiring the side. Jacob Junis pitched the 8th inning. Another run scored on a Angel Martínez error, not helping Junis as he worked himself into a bases loaded high leverage situation. Tommy Edman hit into another double play to get Junis out of the inning and retire the side.
Nic Enright pitched the 9th inning giving up a lead off walk to Ohtani. Mookie Betts hit a single and both were brought home on a Max Muncy 3-run home run.
Cleveland offense tacked on two more with José reaching on a fielding error when the pitcher could not cleanly field the ball. Santana added a one out single to his impressive night (2-for-3 with a walk and two runs). Gabriel Arias launched a double off the wall to score José and Santana.
You can’t DFA or option every player who reaches a slump, the baseball season is long and we’re still technically in the early parts of the year. However, at a certain point when you look across to the other dugout as “Let’s go Dodgers” chants break out in your home stadium, you have to wonder if facing a team like the Dodgers can be demoralizing. Last year there was always a formidable bat on the bench ready to change the entire game with one swing. Who do they have right now? Will Wilson pinch hit for Daniel Schneemann, a decision that left me scratching my head regardless of what Schneemann’s splits say. You don’t pull the guy who just launched a homer, but there’s a reason I’m in the stands and not the dugout. But then you look at who your other options are to face the lefty for Schneemann. Jhonkensy Noel, Lane Thomas, and Austin Hedges. If I had to, I’d go Will Wilson too and therein lies the problem. This line up could use a spark plug young gun to ignite the offense (and maybe a healthy amount of positional competition). Are the answers in Columbus? Well you won’t know until you try.
With tonight’s win against Cleveland, the Dodgers take the series. Cleveland will roll out fan favorite TBD (likely a bullpen game) tomorrow to try and avoid the sweep. Slade Cecconi was slated to start but was pushed due to groin tightness. Clayton Kershaw has the start for LA. First pitch is at 1:10 PM EDT with a much needed off day following.