In what would only be described by your dad or your grand-pappy as “A good old fashion pitchers’ duel”, runs were at a premium in Philadelphia tonight. Both Gavin Williams and Chistopher Sanchez were lights out all night long.
As the game went on, it felt like each pitcher was just trying to outdo the other, inning after inning. There was little drama to speak of. Bryce Harper would hit a two out double in the 1st, but The Big Rig would strike out the next hitter Alec Bohm. The Guardians would follow
in the top of the 2nd inning with a leadoff single by David Fry, but Sanchez would go on to retire the next three hitters in order. Adolis Garcia would reach base on a fielding error by José Ramírez on a softly hit grounder, but Williams would not be phased, as he retired the next 2 hitters on just 2 pitches!
Both pitchers would toss a 1-2-3 3rd inning, and back and forth it went. Neither pitcher would allow more than 1 baserunner at any point in the game. The Phillies were able to get a 1 out single from Brandon Marsh, but after a few attempts to steal second (with Garcia up to bat) that were foiled by foul balls, on a 3-2 pitch The Big Rig would finally get the swing and miss he needed. Marsh would be thrown out with the combination of a great throw and an even better catch and tag by Austin Hedges and Travis Bazzana.
Both teams would also get a 1 out baserunner in the 8th, but both pitchers would again get out of the jam with relative ease. Sanchez, with two soft outs from Petey Halpin and Angel Martínez, and Gavin Williams, with a 4-6-3 double play ball off the bat of Justin Crawford. The final line for each pitcher was 8 IP 4H 2BB 6Ks for Sanchez, and 8IP 4H 0BB 11Ks for The Big Rig.
After that, it was closer time for both teams. The Phillies brought in a familiar face in Jhoan Duran to try for a scoreless 9th. He would be greeted by an old friend in José Ramírez, who lined a 2-1 splitter down the right field line. In typical José fashion, he was looking for two, but the former Gold Glove Right Fielder Garcia cut the ball off before it could get into the corner, and fired a bullet to second to get José out at 2nd base. On a night where offense felt like it was at a premium, it was hard to feel hopeful after that gut punch from the Phillies, but then out of the dugout to pinch hit for Rhys Hoskins came Kyle Manzardo. He drilled the first pitch he saw from Duran the opposite way to Left Field over the wall to give the Guards a 1-0 lead.
There would be no more for the Guards in the 9th, however, and the fate of the game would now lie with our own closer, Cade Smith.
It would be no easy task, as Smith would have to face the top of the Phillies lineup in the bottom half of the inning – Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper – or so you would think. On the first pitch of the 9th, Turnerhit a weak popout to Rocchio, and after working a full count, Smith blew a 98 MPH fastball right by Schwarber. That was the only Fastball he saw in that at bat as well. All hope for the Phillies would lie with Bryce Harper, but he somewhat poetically would weakly top a ground ball to the (just into the game) first baseman Kyle Manzardo, who fielded it and easily jogged to first to record the final out of the game. In all, it would take Smith just 8 pitches to hurl a scoreless 1-2-3 9th inning and secure for the Guards their 7th consecutive win!
The Guards will look to take the series tomorrow afternoon at 4:05pm. It’ll be Slade Cecconi on the mound for Cleveland, up against Zach Wheeler for the Phillies.
