Cleveland Sports Forum

Can't think of any reason I'd rather Plesac than Civale. Neither had a good year. Could have done a bullpen, but that's probably what Tito had in mind anyway, only problem was the first of the half dozen pitchers was awful.

Uncle Dennis wrote: Getting back to Jose, he gets a substantial hit in that situation and the entire team plays better.
Great season and I don't mean to dump on Jose.

Good point he came up with bases loaded and the pitcher HAS to pitch to him.

Then again, that's why .300 (3 out of 10) is actually considered good in baseball. Even superstars are often going to fail.

Bottom line, let's face it, the Yankees had the better overall team and home field advantage. Gerritt Cole came up huge for them and that's a $300 million pitcher. Yet there's a good chance they get chewed up by Houston.

Kudos to our Guardians for this. Getting the absolute most they could out of what they had. And really that's all you can control.

I was flying to Phoenix yesterday and didn't get to watch the game.

Sadly, despite the fine season the G's had, it ended not with a bang but a with a whimper.

Really thought they had the Skanks number but it wasn't to be.

The Bloop Squad couldn't pull it off. Lots of hits and very few runs.

Still a fan of the Bunt, Bloop and a Blast method of scoring runs.

G's were missing the Blast.

Next year's squad hopefully will have more blast but they'll have trade a few players or feed the kids some "juice".

Still, a very enjoyable season.

Need to find their Kyle Schwarber !

Lol for the record Kwan leads off today with a single. Deja vu

(Arias then singled and Kwan then scored from 3B on a wild pitch)

BOX SCORE:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401480568

Nice game for Benson

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Guardians

Cal Quantrill wins race with pitch clock, but Guardians lose to Reds, 4-3

Updated: Feb. 25, 2023, 6:18 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes

GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

Right-hander Cal Quantrill said he had no problem with MLB’s new pitch clock because he was going faster than it was in the Guardians’ Cactus League opener against the Reds on Saturday and Goodyear Ballpark.

Quantrill said his quick pace may have had something to do with the time constraints he was under. But mostly he was just excited to be out on the mound again.

“I thought I was going too fast today,” said Quantrill after the Guardians lost to the Reds, 4-3, on a walk-off homer by Matt McClain in the ninth inning. “I don’t think the timer was going too fast today.

“I was a little excited the first time out. It seems like it’s making the game faster. It wasn’t a massive priority for me, but it seems like this is what people want. I think we’ll adjust to it. I don’t think it will be a long-term issue.”

Pitchers have 15 seconds to deliver a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds when a runner is on bace. There are two pitch clocks on either side of the plate and two on each end of the center field wall.

There were two clock violations on Saturday.

Cincinnati shortstop Jose Barrero received a strike in the second inning from plate umpire Stu Scheurwater for not being ready to hit with eight seconds left on the clock. Reds right-hander Daniel Norris was penalized with a ball for not delivering a pitch in time to Mike Zunino in the third inning.

Spring training invitees David Fry and Roman Quinn homered for Cleveland. Fry’s homer in the second was good for a 2-1 lead. Quinn’s homer to start the fifth put the Guardians in front, 3-2.

Quantrill, who will pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, allowed two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out one and walked one.

When Barrero was charged with a strike for the clock violation, Quantrill wasn’t sure what happened.

“To be completely honest I was trying to figure out what the umpire was doing,” said Quantrill, who won 15 games last year. “It’s going to take time to get used to the timing of it.

“I was assuming 15 seconds was actually faster than it was. I didn’t want to be the first pitcher to get a ball (charged to him).”

Said manager Terry Francona, “It was going a little quick for him. I don’t know if he meant the clock. It was probably a little bit of both.

“It was his first game. He couldn’t find a real comfort zone, but physically he’s fine.”

The Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the first as Steven Kwan singled, went to third on a single by Gabriel Arias and scored on a wild pitch by left-hander Bandon Williamson.

Cincinnati tied it on a sacrifice fly by Wil Myers in the first inning. After Fry’s homer in the second, the Reds made it 2-2 in the bottom of the inning when former Guardian Will Benson stole home.

Benson, traded to the Reds in the offseason, opened the second with a hard single off Josh Naylor’s glove at first. He stole second, took third on Luke Maile’s single and came home when catcher Mike Zunino threw to second as Maile advanced after a walk by Stuart Fairchild. Benson scored easily on the play.

Francona said the ball four call from Scheuerwater came late, causing Zunino to throw to second.

The Reds tied the score, 3-3, on a sacrifice fly by Henry Ramos in the eighth off Nick Mikolachak. They won it in the ninth on McClain’s one-out homer off Aaron Pinto.

This looks familiar:

Kwan singled to center on the second pitch of the game. He went first to third on a single by Arias and scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.

First steal of the spring:

Second baseman Jonathan India stole third in the first inning for the Reds’ first stolen base under MLB’s new rules (bigger bases, and a limit on pick-off attempts by pitchers).

First caught stealing:

Naylor was thrown out by Maile, his former teammate, on an attempted steal of second in the first.

First home run:

Fry gave the Guardians a 2-1 lead with a two-out homer in the second. Fry hit 17 homers at Class AAA Columbus last year.

One-two punch:

Kwan and Arias, the first two hitters in Cleveland’s lineup, had two hits each.

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DAVID FRY HOMER

https://twitter.com/i/status/1629585337529028610

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ROMAN Quinn HOMER

https://youtu.be/uIdjZTL_Hjc

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Not quite the start Plesac was hoping for I'm sure. 2 runs 3 hits top of 1. We are down early 2-0 middle of 1

Gimenez, Rosario, Ramirez down quickly in the first 1, 2, 3 (2-0)

Top 1st

Single
Marcus Semien singles on a ground ball to center fielder George Valera.

Single
Corey Seager singles on a line drive to center fielder George Valera. Marcus Semien to 3rd. Corey Seager to 2nd. Corey Seager advances to 2nd, on a throwing error by center fielder George Valera.

Sac Fly
Nathaniel Lowe out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Richie Palacios in foul territory. Marcus Semien scores. 1 out
TEX 1,CLE 0

Strikeout
Adolis Garcia strikes out swinging. 2 outs

Single
Robbie Grossman singles on a line drive to right fielder Oscar Gonzalez. Corey Seager scores.
TEX 2,CLE 0

Strikeout
Josh Jung strikes out swinging. 3 outs

Bottom 1st

Flyout
Andres Gimenez flies out to center fielder Leody Taveras. 1 out

Groundout
Amed Rosario grounds out, shortstop Corey Seager to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. 2 outs

Flyout
Jose Ramirez flies out to center fielder Leody Taveras. 3 outs

Top 2nd

Single
Clint Frazier singles on a ground ball to third baseman Jose Ramirez, deflected by shortstop Amed Rosario.

Strikeout
Sam Huff called out on strikes. 1 out

Single
Leody Taveras singles on a line drive to left fielder Richie Palacios. Clint Frazier to 2nd.

Flyout
Marcus Semien flies out to right fielder Oscar Gonzalez. 2 outs

Home Run
Corey Seager homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. Clint Frazier scores. Leody Taveras scores.
TEX 5,CLE 0

Mound Visit

Mound Visit

Pitching Substitution

Pitching Change: Thomas Ponticelli replaces Zach Plesac.

Single
Nathaniel Lowe singles on a line drive to center fielder George Valera.

Groundout
Adolis Garcia grounds out, second baseman Andres Gimenez to first baseman Josh Bell. 3 outs

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Bottom 2nd

Flyout
Josh Bell flies out to center fielder Leody Taveras. 1 out

Groundout
Oscar Gonzalez grounds out, shortstop Corey Seager to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. 2 outs

Single
Richie Palacios singles on a line drive to left fielder Robbie Grossman.

Caught Stealing 2B
Richie Palacios caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Sam Huff to second baseman Marcus Semien. 3 outs

TEX 5,CLE 0

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Top 3rd

Pitching Substitution
Pitching Change: James Karinchak replaces Thomas Ponticelli.

Walk
Robbie Grossman walks.

Double
Josh Jung doubles (2) on a line drive to center fielder George Valera. Robbie Grossman to 3rd.

Strikeout
Clint Frazier strikes out swinging. 1 out

Strikeout
Sam Huff strikes out swinging. 2 outs

Single
Leody Taveras singles on a ground ball to left fielder Richie Palacios. Robbie Grossman scores. Josh Jung scores.

TEX 7,CLE 0

Stolen Base 2B
Leody Taveras steals (1) 2nd base.

Groundout
Marcus Semien grounds out, third baseman Jose Ramirez to first baseman Josh Bell. 3 outs

[ Rangers brought out the whoop'n sticks today !!! ]

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Bottom 3rd

Defensive Sub

Defensive Substitution: Ryan Dorow replaces shortstop Corey Seager, batting 2nd, playing shortstop.

Pitching Substitution
Pitching Change: Cole Ragans replaces Jon Gray.

Groundout
Jhonkensy Noel grounds out, shortstop Ryan Dorow to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. 1 out

Strikeout
George Valera called out on strikes. 2 outs

Strikeout
Cam Gallagher strikes out swinging. 3 outs

TEX 7,CLE 0

[ Can we go home and start this mess all over again ??? ]

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