Guardians 5 – Blue Jays 4
The Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays faced off in the final game of the series. After last night’s heroics from Daniel Schneemann, the Guardians were looking for a back-to-back win in today’s game to secure the series.
Tanner Bibee was the starting pitcher for Cleveland and continued the concerning trend with Cleveland starters of giving up a hit against the first batter. Bo Bichette hit a lead off long double to Steven Kwan. Bichette advanced to third on a Vlad Jr. single, but then Bichette could not score when Santander grounded into a double play. Gabriel Arias smartly threw to catcher Bo Naylor who tagged out Bichette as he was retreating to third base. A strikeout sealed the deal on the first inning, allowing Bibee to get out of the inning without any damage.
In the top of the third the Guardians struck first. Arias hit a lead off single to right and Angel Martínez hit a one out single, moving Arias to third. Steven Kwan hit into a force out that scored Arias, put the Guardians up 1-0.
Bibee struggled a bit in the bottom of the third after a quick second inning. Bibee quickly racked up two outs with a groundout, single, and lineout sequence through the first three batters of the inning. But Vlad Jr. drew a four pitch walk followed by a lengthy at bat against Santander who drew a twelve pitch walk. Bibee remained unscathed, again, when a flyout from Springer ended the inning.
The Guardians tacked on an insurance run and then some in the top of the fourth. With one out, Kyle Manzardo singled to right and moved to second after Carlos Santana drew a walk. Daniel Schneemann continued his hard hitting ways with a RBI double along the right field line that left his bat at 105.5 mph. Arias knocked in a two RBI single to right and tried to stretch this hit into a double when the right fielder slipped as he threw in. Unfortunately former Guardian Andrés Giménez was able to get the ball in with plenty of time for Bichette to apply the tag.
That insurance run ended up being crucial. In the bottom of the fourth an unfortunate fielding error on José Ramírez allowed the lead off hitter to reach base. The force out, hit by pitch, RBI double, and two-RBI single that followed brought the Blue Jays within one run with only one out. Bibee worked out of the inning and worked through the bottom of the fifth, keeping the Blue Jays at four runs.
The Guardians had a lot of traffic in the top of the sixth, but ultimately couldn’t tack on another run. Kyle Manzardo led things off with a single off a lefty and a stolen base! His first on the season. Arias and Bo loaded the bases with a single and a walk with two outs, but Angel popped out in foul territory to end the inning.
Bibee was intended to pitch the sixth inning, but had to be pulled due to cramping in both legs, something he has dealt with in previous seasons. Bibee ended the day pitching five complete innings. He gave up three runs, two earned on five hits. He walked two and struck out three on eighty six pitches.
Tim Herrin had to warm up fast, but worked through the sixth inning with his only blemish being a hit batter. Cade Smith activated his home country advantage and threw a clean bottom of the seventh on a flyout, groundout, and strikeout to retire the side.
In the bottom of the eighth, Hunter Gaddis worked himself into some trouble. A lead off walk and single set up runners at first and second for former Guardian Ernie Clement to lay down a perfect sac bunt. Thankfully the next batter, former Guardian Myles Straw, hit a first pitch flyout to freeze the runners at second and third for the second out. Toronto stranded two and were unable to get another run across home plate.
In the top of the ninth the Guardians started a little rally with a lead off single that forced Toronto to make a pitching change. Kwan was unchallenged by the new pitcher, drawing a four pitch walk to put runners on first and second. Brayan Rocchio pinch hit for Jhonkensy Noel and struck out bunting. With two outs, Manzardo walked to load the bases and Carlos Santana walked in a run, putting the Guards up 5-3 for closer Emmanuel Clase.
The first batter of the bottom of the ninth reached on a throwing error. Giménez hit into the infield, but Clase could not cleanly field it to throw him out at first and instead overthrew first, allowing Giménez to reach second. A single and a sac fly allowed the unearned run to score, bringing Toronto back to within one run. With two outs, George Springer struck out twice thanks to a 1-2 pitch being called a ball. But Clase got the job done and the Guardians took the series from the Blue Jays by a final score of CLE 5 – TOR 4.
There are a couple of performances to highlight:
Steven Kwan went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a walk and a fantastic catch in left.
Kyle Manzardo went 2-for-3 with a run and two walks.
Gabriel Arias went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI.
Angel Martínez went 2-for-4 with a run.
Final wrap up
The Guardians will face off against the Washington Nationals tomorrow for Game 1 of a 3 game series. Luis Ortiz will get the start for the Guardians with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 PM EDT at Nationals Park. There is rain forecasted in the D.C. area for tomorrow evening, so there may be another delay or postponement to kick off this series.