The Guardians went 7-1 on their homestand when they absolutely needed to go 7-1 on their homestand, so they have made the playoff conversation one they can continue to have. Now, they will play three against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers, whom they trail by, now, only 6.5 games.
You can read Nicole’s excellent recap of yesterday’s game here. Zack Meisel also had a recap focusing in on Brayan Rocchio’s excellent play to end the game. A group of Athletic writers including Meisel have an article
breaking down the AL Wildcard race, getting a little more interesting with the Red Sox slumping hard.
Jim Rosenhause interviewed Slade Cecconi, Cade Smith, CJ Kayfus and Brayan Rocchio on Saturday’s episode of Guardians’ weekly.
Over the last month, Guardians’ starting pitchers are fifth in baseball in ERA (3.61) and 13th in FIP at 4.06.
Over the past month, Guardians’ relief pitchers are fourth in ERA at 3.24 and first in FIP at 2.76.
Over the past month, the Guardians have the lowest team wRC+ in MLB at 70 wRC+, and have one hitter over 100 wRC+.
You’ll never guess who it is. That’s right… Will Wilson. 189 wRC+ in six plate appearances. So, hey, if the hitters could find a way to get a little hot for these last couple weeks and at least put up a 100 wRC+ for a minute, they actually might pull off a miraculous run at a playoff berth. If not… well, you have to expect a little pitching regression at some point here.
The Lynchburg Hillcats walked-off the first game of the Carolina League Championship series, beating the Columbia Fireflies 6-5 on an Aaron Walton RBI double, as Brian Hemminger recapped for you here.
AROUND MLB:
The Rangers and Astros lost. The Mariners and Red Sox won. The Red Sox are in the 2nd wildcard spot, 3.5 games ahead of the Guardians. The Astros are in the 3rd wild card spot, 2.5 games ahead of the Guardians. The Rangers are a half-game ahead of Cleveland. The Red Sox hold the tiebreaker over Cleveland, so, again, the best hope is that the Guardians can tie the Astros (or sweep the Rangers to end the season if the Rangers are in the pole position).
