Look out, Houston, the Cleveland Guardians are coming for your Wild Card Spot. Quickly. Here’s how we got there over the past week.
Swept and Almost-Swept
The Kansas City Royals came to town early last week, and the Guards made easy work of them. Monday saw a 10-2 win, Tuesday a 2-0 shutout, and a close 3-2 win on Thursday. While they couldn’t hang on for a sweep with a 3-4 loss on Wednesday, the series win has them 3.5 games over the Royals in the AL Central. The latter half of the week was even better, with the last-place
Chicago White Sox coming to town. Over the weekend, the Guards got the job done and closed out a sweep of the Sox. Friday saw a complete game shutout from Tanner Bibee, while Friday’s 3-1 win and Saturday’s close 3-2 win put the Guards just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot.
Rotation Locked In
We cannot celebrate seven wins over the past week without thanking the rotation. The six-man rotation put in the work this week. Slade Cecconi won both of his games, giving up just two runs on four hits. Joey Cantillo pitched eight innings of shutout ball on Tuesday, while Logan Allen gave up two runs over five innings that the offense could not overcome on Wednesday. Gavin Williams had another successful day on Thursday, giving up two runs over six innings, and Bibee’s huge complete game shutout on Friday night gave the team yet another much-needed confidence boost. Parker Messick continued his successful rookie season on Saturday, picking up the win after giving up just one run on seven hits across six innings. We seem to have finally found the right mix in the rotation, so here’s hoping they all continue to find success in the final weeks of the season.
Big Day for Bo
Catcher Bo Naylor had a much-needed breakout day on Sunday, going 2-3 with two hits, a walk, and three RBI. One of those hits, a home run in the seventh, broke the 2-2 tie with the Chicago White Sox and ultimately gave the Guards the win. I say “much-needed” because Bo is hitting just .187 on the year over 326 at-bats. However, he seems to be heating up at the right time because he is hitting .273/.304/.500 over his last seven games, and .238/.298/.405 over his last 15. If he can keep this trend up as we head into the last two weeks of the season, we’ll be in good shape in the catching department (see: Austin Hedges hitting .222/.263/.556 over his last seven games).
