After a successful series against Tampa Bay, the Guardians faced off against divisional opponent the Kansas City Royals. Miraculously the Guards are still in the hunt for that coveted Wild Card spot in the playoffs, and were in desperate need for the offense to kick in and give them some run support to overtake the Royals in the standings.
Cleveland kicked things off immediately with Daniel Schneemann singling to right field. With two outs, Kyle Manzardo smacked a double to right, scoring Schneemann from
first. In the bottom of the third, they tacked on another run. Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan hit back-to-back singles. Schneemann hit into a double play, but the Royals made the great mistake of pitching to José Ramírez. José singled to right to score Kwan from second.
The fourth inning made for a big one for Cleveland. With one out and Gabriel Arias on first, C.J. Kayfus kicked off the double-palooza with an RBI drive to right. Brayan Rocchio continued his great night with an RBI double of his own to left field. Steven Kwan drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Daniel Schneemann launched a fly ball to center field that was just shy of a home run. The third RBI double of the night from Schneemann put the Guards up 5-0. The Royals learned this time around and intentionally walked José to load the bases for the clean up hitter Kyle Manzardo. Manzo singled to second to advance all runners and score Kwan. Nolan Jones came up to bat with the bases still loaded and only one out. NoJo smacked his own RBI double, a two run affair, to center field. After 11 batters and a pitching change, the Royals finally retired the side after the Guards put up a 6 spot.
Brayan Rocchio hit a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth. Steven Kwan singled on a grounder to right. Schneemann grounded into a force out that advanced Rocchio to third. A throwing error allowed Rocchio to score and Schneemann to reach. An overturned call at first resulted in José recording the final out of the season. The Guards put up another run in the bottom of the seventh. Kayfus doubled to right to lead off and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Rocchio drew a walk, Kwan grounded into a force out that scored Kayfus.
The offensive excitement wasn’t without some great defensive plays. Brayan Rocchio made a fantastic play to get Salvador Perez out in the top of the second. In the top of the fifth, Rocchio turned another great sliding play to end the inning.
The real story of the game, not to be overshadowed by the hot bats, was Slade Cecconi. Ceconni threw 100 pitches in eight innings, flirting with a no-hitter. In the eighth inning, the Royals finally recorded a hit, but that didn’t stop Cecconi from getting out of the side, maintaining the shut out. Slade finished the night going 8.0IP, 1H, 0R/ER, 3BB, and 3Ks. He was met with a roaring ovation from the Cleveland faithful, his effort much appreciated.
Zak Kent was tapped to finish the game against the Royals. He struggled to get runners out. A lead off single and “defense indifference” allowed the first batter to reach second. With one out, a hit by pitch and a walk loaded them up. Kwan pulled down a liner to left for the second out. A single to Jac Caglianone scored two, ruining the shutout. Kent, with Jacob Junis warming up, finally got the final out by striking out Massey on a foul tip.
The Guardians are flirting with a playoff spot and are looking at a four game win streak heading into tomorrow’s game.
