With Gimenez on at second, Ramirez reaches on an error and Gimenez scores cutting the lead to 1 at 3-2. Ramirez scores on a base hit by Josh Naylor. Game tied 3-3. Brennan hit by pitch Naylor to second. Loureano strikes out to end the inning. Middle of 8, Guardians tie the game at 3-3.

Barlow on in relief retires the A's in order in the bottom of the 8th. We head to the top of the 9th with a 3-3 tie.

Bo Naylor leads off the 9th with a walk. Florial with a tailor made double play ball goes through the wickets for an error on the second basemen. Naylor to third. Safety squeeze. Naylor hesitates, Catcher picks off Naylor at third. Florial on at first with one out. Arias flies out. Kwan reaches on a bunt single. Florial at second, Kwan on at first. Gimenez at bat. Right man, Right place. Throwing error on a pickoff attempt to second goes into center field. Runners advance to second and third. Gimenez grounds out after all the bumbling, stumbling by the A's defense. Man O Man.

Barlow surrenders a lead off walk to start the home half of the 9th in tie ball game 3-3. Gimenez with an outstanding play behind second called out at first but is reversed on the challenge. Runners on first and second and no out. Line drive base hit to center. Bases loaded. No outs. Hernaiz hesitates and broke back to second. heads to third. game should be over. BRUTAl! After all the terrible baseball, the A's are poised to take this game. The A's have offered this game to the Guardians on a silver platter. Morgan on in relief walks in the winning run. Game over. Unbelievable.

After all the carnage in this game, two plays standout in this loss. The fly ball over Laureano's head in the first inning which would have been caught by a seasoned center fielder like Straw that ended up plating two runs and the pick off play on the attempted safety squeeze that nailed Naylor diving back to third were huge. The A's tried to hand us this game in the final two innings by committing three big errors but we failed to take advantage.

Now we head to Seattle where the pitching will be quite different from the pitching we saw in Oakland. We have to take the Seattle series at least 2 games to 1 before heading to Minnesota.

OK then.

Guardians right-hander Carlos Carrasco pitched five innings Sunday against the A's in his return to the Cleveland rotation. He allowed three runs on six hits and left trailing the A's, 3-0, at Oakland Coliseum.AP

GUARDIANS

Guardians lose, 4-3, to Athletics on walk-off walk in the ninth inning

Updated: Mar. 31, 2024, 7:05 p.m.|Published: Mar. 31, 2024, 6:46 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

OAKLAND -- The Guardians lost the hard way on Sunday.

Held silent for seven innings, after three games of offensive excess, Cleveland pulled into a 3-3 tie in the eighth. But the A’s rallied in the ninth inning for a 4-3 win on Eli Morgan’s bases-loaded walk to Abraham Toro.

Cleveland had a chance to take the lead in the ninth when Bo Naylor drew a leadoff walk and went to third when second baseman Zack Gerlof committed an error on Estevan Florial’s routine grounder.

But Naylor, looking to get a quick jump on Gabriel Arias’ bunt attempt, was picked off third by catcher Shea Langeliers. The Guardians challenged the out call, but the call was upheld.

The Guardians entered the eighth trailing, 3-0. When the inning ended, the score was tied, 3-3.

Florial opened with a triple to right center. Florial slowed as he rounded second and was thrown out at third. The Guardians challenged and the out call was overturned.

Arias delivered Florial on a grounder to second to make it 3-1. Lucas Erceg struck out Steven Kwan for the second out, but Andrés Giménez singled to center. Austin Adam relieved, wild pitched Giménez to second before José Ramírez sent a third-out grounder to short.

Nick Allen couldn’t handle it as Giménez scored to make it 3-2 and Ramírez went to second. Josh Naylor singled past first to tie the score.

Scott Barlow, in his second inning of work, loaded the bases in the ninth on a walk and two singles. Morgan relieved and walked Toro to force home the winning run.

In winning the first three games of the season, the Guardians scored 26 runs on 35 hits. It was the first time they had opened the season 3-0 since 2017. But they fell silent on Sunday much to the chagrin of Carlos Carrasco, who was making his return to the Cleveland rotation.

Oakland right-hander Paul Blackburn held Cleveland scoreless for seven innings. He retired 12 straight before Josh Naylor gave Cleveland its first hit with a single to start the fifth.

The Guardians, trailing 3-0, loaded the bases in the fifth, But that was the only challenge they mounted against Blackburn until the eighth.

Carrasco was making his first start for Cleveland since Sept. 30, 2020 when he faced the Yankees in Game 2 of the wild card series. The Guardians signed him to a minor league deal this February with an invitation to big league camp.

Carrasco pitched well in spring training and made the club. He was competing with Tyler Beede for the fifth spot in the rotation after Gavin Williams injured his right elbow. The decision went to Carrasco and Beede went to the bullpen

The A’s hit Carrasco early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first.

Esteury Ruiz opened the inning with an infield single. JJ Bleday followed with a triple to center for a 1-0 lead. Seth Brown’s one-out single made it 2-0.

Oakland used another triple to make it 3-0.

Ruiz, who stole 67 bases as a rookie last year, tripled to start the third. Bleday, with the infield pulled in, singled between first and second for a 3-0 lead.

Carrasco pitched well after that, throwing two scoreless innings, and keeping the game close. He allowed three runs on six hits in five innings.

Blackburn held the Guardians to three hits. He struck out three and walked one.

Next:

The Guardians open a three-game series against Seattle on Monday night. RHP Triston McKenzie will face the Mariners, while RHP Emerson Hancock will start for the Marines.

Gametime is 9:40 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.

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BOX SCORE

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CONDENSED GAME

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Brutal

Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie.AP

Cleveland Guardians, Seattle Mariners lineups for April 1, 2024: Game 5

Updated: Apr. 01, 2024, 8:29 p.m.|Published: Apr. 01, 2024, 8:16 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

SEATTLE -- Triston McKenzie is ahead of schedule.

Last year he didn’t make his first start until June 4 after opening the season on the injured list with a strained teres major muscle in his right shoulder that happened in his last start of spring training.

McKenzie made just four starts last year because of right shoulder and elbow injuries. This spring he made it through four Cactus League stats without incident. He’ll face the Mariners on Monday night as Cleveland’s fifth starter to give him a couple of extra days rest.

Game 5

Where: T-Mobile Park.
When: Monday through Wednesday.
TV radio: Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and Guardians Radio Network will carry the game.
Teams: Guardians 3-1 vs. Mariners 2-2.
Starting pitchers: RHP Triston McKenzie vs. RHP Emerson Hancock.

Lineups

Guardians

LF Steven Kwan.
2B Andres Gimenez.
3B Jose Ramirez.
1B Josh Naylor.
CF Tyler Freeman.
DH Will Brennan.
RF Ramon Laureano.
C Bo Naylor.
SS Brayan Rocchio.

Mariners

SS J.P. Crawford.
CF Julio Rodriguez.
2B Jorge Polanco.
RF Mitch Haniger.
DH Mitch Garver.
C Cal Raleigh.
1B Ty France.
LF Dominic Canzone.
3B Luke Urias.

Umpires

H Mark Ripperger.
1B Adam Hamari.
2B Vic Carapazza.
3B Alex Mackay.

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Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez robs Will Brennan of the Guardians of extra bases with a great running catch against the center field wall Monday in the second inning at T-Mobile-Park.AP


Guardians waste two homers in 5-4 loss to Seattle following early exit by Triston McKenzie

Updated: Apr. 02, 2024, 1:34 a.m.|Published: Apr. 02, 2024, 12:17 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

SEATTLE -- The Guardians’ bullpen is going to need some help in the near future. Until then, give them an A for effort.

Triston McKenzie continued a trend of short starts by the rotation Monday night in a 5-4 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

McKenzie, in his 2024 debut, lasted 3 1/3 innings in his first big league start since Sept. 30 against the Tigers. No Cleveland starter has gone more than six innings in the first five games of the season, which has put a burden on the bullpen.

Monday night the pen had to cover 4 2/3 innings after McKenzie’s early exit. Through five games, the pen has pitched 19 2/3 innings, while the rotation has pitched 23 1/3 innings.

In case you’re wonder, that is not a good ratio.

“It’s kind of how it always goes this early in the season,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “These guys are tough. We’re doing our best to not to use guys too often. But a night like tonight, when you’re got to cover four-plus innings (can be hard).

“These guys are resilient. We’ve got enough for Tuesday. We got Biebs (Shane Bieber) on the mound and we feel good about that. As we get going into the season, our starters will be going deeper and their pitch counts will get higher. I’m just really proud of the way the bullpen has been taking the ball right now.”

McKenzie (0-1, 10.80) didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. In 78 pitches, he allowed five runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out two.

Injuries limited McKenzie to four starts last year. He made four starts in spring training, striking out seven in six innings against Arizona in his final start of the spring.

“I could have commanded the strike zone a little more,” said McKenzie. “But all in all, I tried to battle out there. I felt I did good.”

Seattle took a 4-0 lead in the second. After McKenzie issued a pair of one-out walks, Ty France made it 1-0 with a single. Dominic Canzone followed with a three-run homer to center on McKenzie’s 1-1 fastball.

The Guardians responded with two runs in the third. Seattle rookie Emerson Hancock (1-0, 5.06) hit Ramon Laureano on the hand to start the inning. Laureano was originally called out on the play, but the Guardians challenged and he was awarded first base.

Seattle’s Dylan Moore protested the decision and was ejected. The delay seemed to rattle Hancock. Bo Naylor and Brayan Rocchio followed with singles to load the bases. Laureano scored on Kwan’s groundout and Andrés Giménez delivered Naylor with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.

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Seattle made it 5-3 with an unearned run in the fourth. Nick Sandlin relieved McKenzie with one out and the bases loaded. He walked No. 9 hitter Luis Urias to score Cal Raleigh.

“Triston had a really hard time commanding the ball,” said Vogt. “They got his pitch count up pretty high in the second inning. It seemed like he was having a tough time finishing his pitches.

“He was missing up quite a bit and lost the feel for his slider in the second inning. They made him pay for it.”

Raleigh started the rally with a one-out single off McKenzie. France followed with a single that ticked off José Ramírez’s glove at third. Canzone sent a sharp grounder to first that Josh Naylor couldn’t handle to load the bases. Naylor was charged with an error.

The inning ended when J.P. Crawford sent a fly ball to Tyler Freeman in center field. Freeman, the converted infielder, charged the ball, made the catch and threw home to get France on a double play.

In the sixth Freeman homered off the glove of Rodriguez in center field to make it 5-3. It was his first homer of the season.

Rodriguez had put on a defensive display before that. He robbed Will Brennan of extra bases in the second with a running catch at the wall in center. He stung Brennan again in the fourth with a diving catch in right center.

“Julio is one of the best players in the game,” said Vogt. “I told Will, ‘You know the guys out there with gloves, you want to hit it away from.’ Will swung the bat great tonight in getting robbed twice.”

In the seventh the Guardians’ defense shined again.

Rodriguez and Jorge Polanco started the inning with singles against Hunter Gaddis. Mitch Haniger followed with a third straight single as Rodriguez tried to score from second. Good relay work from Kwan and Ramírez cut down Rodriguez at the plate.

“I love good defense, you know that,” said Vogt. “It kept us in the game and gave us a chance to keep it close. Credit to our defense.”

When Josh Naylor homered with one out in the eighth, a 438-foot drive to right center, the Guardians were within one run at 5-4.

Ryne Stanek retired the Guardians in the ninth for the save.

Sandlin, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tyler Beede combined to pitch 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of McKenzie. They struck out seven, walked four and allowed three hits.

Cade Smith in his second big league appearance pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. He has eight strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

It was a good night for the Naylor brothers. Josh hit his first homer of the season. He has now reached base in eight of his last 18 plate appearances. Bo’s single in third was his first hit of the season. He added another single in the seventh.

Next:

RHP Shane Bieber (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Luis Castillo (0-1, 7.20) Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.

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CONDENSED GAME

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Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber goes to work against the Mariners on Tuesday night in the first inning at T-Mobile Park. It was Bieber's second start of the season.AP


Guardians’ Shane Bieber throws six more scoreless innings in 5-2 win over Mariners

Updated: Apr. 03, 2024, 12:18 a.m.|Published: Apr. 03, 2024, 12:09 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

SEATTLE -- Baseball taketh and giveth. Long live baseball.

Will Brennan lost two hits on Monday night courtesy of center fielder Julio Rodriguez. Tuesday night he collected two hits and a win as the Guardians beat the Mariners, 5-2, at T-Mobile Park.

Brennan started a three-run rally in the fourth with his second hit of the game, and Shane Bieber took it from there. Bieber (2-0, 0.00) has opened the season with 12 straight scoreless innings over his first two starts. He’s struck out 20, walked one and allowed 10 hits.

The 20 strikeouts are the most he’s had after two starts to open a season since 2020. Bieber opened that year with 27 strikeouts.

José Ramírez started the fourth with an infield single. Seattle starter Luis Castillo (0-2, 6.75) retired the next two batters, but Brennan lined a single into right field with Ramírez on the move. When Mitch Haniger couldn’t handle the ball cleanly, Ramírez scored and Brennan went to second on the error.

Bo Naylor, who started the season 0 for 7 before getting two hits Monday, made it 3-0 with his first homer of the season, a drive into the right field seats on Castillo’s 96 mph fastball that cut right into his bat path.

The Guardians stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fifth, but they missed a chance to put it in their back pocket.

Brayan Rocchio doubled to start the inning and went to third on a Steven Kwan’s infield hit to third. The hustle of Kwan forced third baseman Josh Rojas into a throwing error as Rocchio scored. Andrés Giménez followed with a double to send Kwan to third.

The Guards were set for a big inning, but Ramírez grounded out to first and Josh Naylor was intentionally walked to load the bases for Tyler Freeman. He grounded out to leave the bases full.

Bieber was at his best after his teammates gave him the lead.

Mitch Garver reached on a two-out double in the fourth. Bieber slammed the door by striking out Cal Raleigh.

In the fifth, Ty France hit a leadoff double, but Bieber struck out the next three batters. The three strikeouts came on a fastball, knuckle curve and slider.

In the sixth, Haniger doubled with two out, but Bieber struck out Garve to end his last inning of work.

Bieber, in 83 pitches, allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter. He struck out eight.

Freeman got another chance to deliver in the seventh and came through with a sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead. Ramírez and Josh Naylor singled with one out to put runners on the corners.

Seattle made it 5-2 with two runs in the seventh off Eli Morgan. Rojas beat the shift with a softly hit double down the third baseline to score Raleigh and send France to third. Scott Barlow relieved and ended the inning, but not before France scored on a grounder to short.

Emmanuel Clase, the fourth Cleveland reliever to work, pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.

Bieber and Castillo exchanged scoreless innings through three.

Kwan opened the game with a single, but the next three Guardians went down in order. Julio Rodriguez and Jorge Polanco hit consecutive singles in the first with one out for Seattle, but Bieber worked his way out of trouble as Haniger lined out to second and Garver popped up to short.

Raleigh opened the second with a single, but France grounded into a double play and Dominic Canzone struck out.

Brennan hit a one-out single in the second, but Castillo retired the next two batters.

Bieber improved to 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA against Seattle. Castillo slipped to 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA against Cleveland. In his previous three starts against the Guards, he allowed one run over 18 innings.

Next:

LHP Logan Allen (1-0, 5.40) vs. RHP George Kirby (1-0, 0.00) Wednesday at 4:07 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and Guardians radio network will carry the game.

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CONDENSED GAME


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Guess no one knew there was a day game today. Get on the wagon !

Guardians roll over sloppy Mariners, 8-0; improve to 5-2 under Stephen Vogt

Updated: Apr. 03, 2024, 10:12 p.m.|Published: Apr. 03, 2024, 6:33 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

SEATTLE — It’s unclear what exactly happened to the Mariners on Wednesday.

Did they wilt while facing the Guardians’ pressure offense? Or did they hold a team party Tuesday night that lasted way too long?

Whatever the case, the Guardians slapped them upside the head with their unique brand of baseball on the way to a 8-0 win at T-Mobile Park. The Guardians, with one more stop to make, are 5-2 on their longest season-opening trip since 1906.

Here’s how the Guardians picked apart Seattle.

Steven Kwan opened the game with a 20-hop single through the left side against George Kirby, one of Seattle’s top starters. Kirby hit Andres Gimenez with a pitch and Jose Ramirez followed with a double off the right field wall as Gimenez stopped at third.

Josh Naylor delivered Gimenez with a grounder to first as Ramirez advanced to third. With the infield pulled in, a dark cloud descended upon Seattle’s infield.

Will Brennan’s hard grounder deflected off Jorge Polanco’s glove at second as Ramirez scored for a 3-0 lead. It was originally ruled an error, but changed to a hit and RBI for Brennan.

Cleveland made it 5-0 in the second as Brayan Rocchio singled and went to third on Kwan’s bloop single to right. Gimenez sent a shot to first that skipped off Ty France’s glove and into right field. Rocchio scored and Kwan went to third. Josh Naylor’s sacrifice fly scored Kwan with the fifth run.

The Mariners challenged plate umpire Vic Carapazza’s safe call, but the challenge was denied.

Things still weren’t right for the Mariners in the fourth inning.

Kwan reached on a one-out single for his third straight hit. Gimenez sent a grounder to second as shortstop J.P. Crawford slammed into second baseman Jorge Polanco while pursuing the ball. Kwan want to third as Polanco got to his feet slowly, but stayed in the game.

Ramirez followed with his second RBI double of the day to score Kwan and send Gimenez to third. Josh Naylor followed with a sacrifice fly for a 7-0 lead. It was Naylor’s third RBI in his first three plate appearances.

“Those were two really loud sacrifice flies,” said manager Stephen Vogt.

Naylor is the first Cleveland player to have three RBI and no hits in one game since Bob Chance on July 31, 1964, against Detroit.

Brennan closed the scoring with a single for an 8-0 lead. That was it for Kirby (0-1, 6.97). He allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. In his season-opening start, he held Boston scoreless over 6 2/3 innings on two hits and eight strikeouts.

In the last two games of this three-game series, the Guards did a number on two of the top starters in the AL. They beat Kirby and Luis Castillo, scoring a combined 12 runs on 19 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

“Credit to Val (hitting coach Chris Valaika) and the hitting group for coming up with a great plan,” said Vogt. “Credit the players even more for following it and sticking to it.

“To do that to two guys of that caliber, feels really good for the offense.”

Cleveland left-hander Logan Allen (2-0, 2.31) was more than happy to accept this outpouring of offense from his teammates.

In his two starts this year, the Guardians have handed Allen 3-0 leads in the first. He’s protected those leads as if they were made of gold.

On a sunny but cold Wednesday afternoon, Allen threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out six and walked three while throwing 93 pitches.

Allen, Nick Sandlin, Cade Smith and Tim Herrin combined on the five-hit shutout.

“The offense has given me a lead in both my outings,” said Allen. “When you have a lead like that, all you have to do is go out and protect the lead. Go right after guys. You don’t want to leave the boys out there too long on defense. You want to get them back into the dugout and swinging it.”

The Guardians finished with 11 hits, three by Kwan. It was his fourth multi-hit game of the season and 97th since he debuted in the big leagues in 2022. Naylor’s three RBI give him five for the season.

Kwan is hitting .353 (12 for 34) with nine runs in seven games. He went 3 for 5 with three runs on Wednesday.

“He’s our catalyst. He’s pesky. He’s a good situational hitter and baserunner,” said Vogt. “Once he gets on, he’s causing havoc. You have to make pitches to him. There’s not too many holes there.

“As he goes, we go. He did a great job jumpstarting us today.”

Next:

The Guardians open a three-game series against the Twins on Thursday at Target Field. RHP Tanner Bibee (0-0, 6.75) will start for the Guardians, while RHP Pablo Lopez (1-0, 1.29) starts for the Twins.

Game time is 4:10 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.


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ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDING ROCCHIO'S MUST SEE DEFENSIVE PLAY IN THE 9TH INNING

https://youtu.be/yAf8vV_ve84


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