Cleveland Sports Forum

Joseee with a grand slam! Finally got rewarded for a lot of hard hit balls.

McKenzie is going to personally burn out the bullpen if he continues to pitch the way he has in april.
Grand slam by Jose game us an early 5 run lead. Been pared back gradually sinve then. 5-4 in the 7th. we're already on our 4th reliever of the day. 4 are left; but Aviles pitched 3 innings yesterday. So it's up to Barlow, Smith, Beebe and Clase.

update: Barlow had a 13 pitch 7th; I'd let him back out there in the 8th.

Brennan homer gives them a 2 run lead.
This new team ability to hit homeruns does help them win more games
Mostly the same guys, but diferent results

Cade Smith for the 8th. He'd been a 2 game slump 4 runs in 1 IP. Last time out a perfect inning.

and he sets the Sox down in order including 2 strikeouts

Today's 6 runs have come on 8 hits. also 6 walks and only 1 strikeout. Toss in 4 stolen bases in 5 tries. That sounds like an efficient offense, but actually no one had a hit with RISP outside of Jose's blast. But a grand slam can make up for lots of failures

and Clase did his work on 12 pitches. That gives him 8 saves Holmes on NY has 9. Foley on DET and Kimbrel on BAL have 7

José Ramírez slams Red Sox as Guardians take series with 6-4 win

Updated: Apr. 25, 2024, 5:26 p.m.|Published: Apr. 25, 2024, 4:01 p.m.

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The José Ramírez run factory was operating at maximum efficiency Thursday as Cleveland’s five-time All-Star carried the Guardians to a 6-4 win against Boston at Progressive Field.

Ramírez was responsible for five of Cleveland’s six runs, beguiling Boston pitchers at the plate and pressuring Red Sox defenders on the bases all afternoon. He collected three hits including a grand slam, while driving in four runs and scoring a pair.

His final run in the seventh was comprised of equal parts instinct and hustle as he singled off Boston righty Chris Martin, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before scampering home on a passed ball that got away from catcher Reese McGuire during a Josh Naylor steal.

Manager Stephen Vogt said Ramírez makes things happen when he is on the bases.

“It looked like he wasn’t going to go but then he saw the pitcher and then realized he could make it,” Vogt said of Ramírez’s dash across the plate. “It’s just heads up. He’s aggressive, he’s smart, he’s everything you could want in a ballplayer.”

The Guardians have won three consecutive series against the Red Sox and matched the 1999 Indians at 18-7 for the best 25-game start in franchise history. Their .720 winning percentage is the best in the American League.

Cleveland’s bullpen covered five innings in relief of starter Triston McKenzie, allowing two runs before handing things over to closer Emmanuel Clase, who shut Boston down in the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.

Nick Sandlin got two big outs in the fifth inning after Tim Herrin allowed the first two Boston hitters to reach base with singles. Sandlin retired pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida on a weak grounder back to the mound and struck out another pinch hitter, Enmanuel Valdez, to end the inning.

But Boston touched Sandlin for a pair of runs in the sixth on an RBI ground out by Ceddanne Rafaela and an RBI single by Jaren Duran off Hunter Gaddis.

Gaddis (1-0) picked up the win by getting the final two outs of the inning before Scott Barlow and Cade Smith tossed a pair of scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth. Gaddis extended his scoreless innings streak to 15 1/3 frames since Sept. 21. His 13-game scoreless streak to open the season marks the longest for a major league reliever in 2024.

McKenzie struck out seven and walked a pair, but was lifted after four innings and 75 pitches. He labored through the second inning, allowing a base hit to David Hamilton and a pair of walks, including a free pass to McGuire that loaded the bases. But McKenzie struck out Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran to escape trouble.

Staked to a five-run lead after Ramírez’s slam, McKenzie faltered in the third. Following a leadoff single by Rafael Devers, Rob Refsnyder delivered an RBI triple off the wall in left, just over Steven Kwan’s glove. Wilyer Abreu later scored Refsnyder with a sacrifice fly before David Hamilton grounded out to end the inning.

Vogt said timing, more than pitch count, dicated pulling McKenzie at that point.

“It was a perfect spot for Tim to come in versus their lefties, and I had to make a hard decision,” Vogt said. “I didn’t like it, but sometimes it’s what you have to do. You want him to go back out, but at that time it just felt like it was time to move on.”

Ramírez launched his sixth career grand slam in the second after battling Boston starter Chase Anderson (0-1) for 10 pitches. Once the count went full, Ramírez fouled off four consecutive cut fastballs from Anderson before finally driving one 384 feet into the seats in right field.

It was his fifth home run of the season and marked the fourth of his career home run in an at-bat of 10 pitches or more. Only Case Blake (2) has multiple homers for Cleveland during 10-pitch at-bats since pitch counts began being tracked in 1988. Ramírez said there are benefits to seeing that many pitches at once.

“The only advantage you can get is that you see the pitch that he actually trusts the most and you can focus on trying to execute against that pitch,” Ramírez told reporters via Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero afterward.

Ramírez’s single in the seventh was the 1,354th hit of his career and moved him past Jim Thome for sole possession of 12th on Cleveland’s all-time list. In his last seven games, Ramírez is slugging .593 with eight RBI in 27 at-bats. After seeing several hard-hit balls not land for hits during Cleveland’s four-game series in Boston, Ramírez was rewarded for sticking with his game plan in this week’s rematch. He went 5-for-12 (.417) with a double, two home runs, five RBI and three runs scored.

“I’ve been in this game for a long time,” Ramírez said. “I know when you’re hitting the ball well, sooner or later the results will come. I know the season is long and good things are going to happen if you keep doing the right things.”

Will Brennan put Cleveland in front earlier in the inning with a solo home run of his own off Anderson. Brennan later added a double to stay hot against Boston. Brennan is hitting .304 with a pair of home runs, three RBI and an 1.099 OPS in his last seven games.

Vogt said Brennan is squaring up every ball right he’s seeing after spending the early part of the season in-between on fastballs and offspeed pitches.

“He’s on the fastball and he’s able to make adjustments to the offspeed, but it’s just the quality of the bats right now and the pitches he’s swinging at,” Brennan said. “He’s making really good swing decisions and impacting the ball when it’s in his damage zone, so we couldn’t be more thrilled with the way he’s swinging the bat.”

Next:

Cleveland heads out on a six-game road trip to Atlanta and Houston that begins Friday at Truist Park. The Guardians will send lefty Logan Allen (3-0, 5.06) to the mound while the Braves counter with lefty Chris Sale (2-1, 4.38). Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network will carry the game.


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Tomorrow night, the 17-6 Atlanta Braves host the 18-7 Cleveland Guardians for a three-game weekend series.

The two best teams in baseball go head-to-head at Truist Park in Cobb County, Georgia.

Braves continue homestand against Guardians in clash of MLB’s best teams to date

The two teams with the best records in the majors face off at Truist Park this weekend.

By Kris Willis@Kris_Willis Apr 25, 2024, 8:30pm EDT

The Atlanta Braves will wrap up a long homestand this weekend with a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians. The series will be a matchup of the two best teams in the majors over the first month of the season. While it’s not surprising to see the Braves involved in that series, it is a little strange for the other team to be the Guardians, who were projected to be essentially a .500 team on Opening Day.

The Braves come into the series fresh off a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins that gave them a 17-6 record. Atlanta is 9-1 over its last 10 games and leads the National League with a +44 run differential. The Guardians just took two of three from the Boston Red Sox and are 18-7 with a majors-best +49 run differential. Interestingly, the Guardians have a pretty poor BaseRuns record (13-11), which suggests that their run differential, and their record, are the result of good sequencing on their end (and/or bad sequencing on their opponents’ ends) moreso than strong context-neutral outcomes. You can kind of see why when looking at their team ranks so far — seventh in position player fWAR and 12th in pitching fWAR, while the Braves are first in the former and 16th in the latter.

Atlanta is expected to get a boost to its lineup in time for the series opener. Infielder David Fletcher was sent to Gwinnett Thursday, paving the way for the return of Ozzie Albies from the Injured List. Albies suffered a fractured toe on the last road trip but has ramped up his activity this week and it appears that he will be ready to go Friday when he is first eligible to return.

Cleveland has been paced by Steven Kwan (1.2 fWAR, .370s wOBA, .340s xwOBA) and Josh Naylor (0.6 fWAR, .390s wOBA, .410s xwOBA) offensively, but continues to field a lot of offensively-challenged bats. Emmanuel Clase and Hunter Gaddis have been incredible out of the bullpen in April, and the Cleveland pitching factory continues to churn out effective arms.

Friday, April 26, 7:20 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)

Logan Allen (5 GS, 26.2 IP, 18.6 K%, 8.0 BB%, 5.06 ERA, 5.52 FIP)

Lefty Logan (L.T.) Allen will make his sixth start of the season in Friday’s opener at Truist Park. Allen was the Guardians’ second round pick in the 2020 Draft. He made his major league debut last season where he made 24 starts after joining the rotation, and pitched quite admirably, with a 91 ERA-, 99 FIP-, and 100 xFIP- across his first 125 1⁄3 innings. It has been a little more of a struggle for Allen to start 2024, though. After allowing three runs over his first 11 2/3 innings, Allen has given up 12 in his last 15 innings across three starts. The first of those games was just a regular BABIP-fueled affair against the White Sox, but he’s allowed two homers in each of his last two starts as offenses have skied ball after ball off of him. He allowed five hits, three walks and three runs over 5 1/3 innings in his last outing against the Athletics. Friday’s game will be Allen’s first career appearance against the Braves.

Allen throws one of the weirdest changeups in the game, so that’ll be a fun thing for the Braves to marvel at and maybe try to hit. He also has a strange cutter that he struggles to command, but it’s been effective for him this year after getting knocked around in 2023. On the flip side, his worsening changeup command early this season may be a reason for his struggles. The fastball only comes in at 91 mph, and though it’s placed at the top of the zone, the Braves should be able to do some real damage on it.

Chris Sale (4 GS, 24.2 IP, 27.6 K%, 6.1 BB%, 4.38 ERA, 3.40 FIP)

Chris Sale will be operating with a couple of extra days of rest when he takes the mound in the series opener Friday. He’s coming off a good outing against the Rangers where he allowed three runs over seven innings while throwing just 89 pitches. Sale has totaled seven strikeouts in each of his last two starts. Overall, Sale’s numbers would look a lot better if not for a pitifully low strand rate and an elevated HR/FB; his 76 xFIP- is a top-20 mark among the 120 pitchers or so that have completed 20-plus innings so far.

Having spent all of his career before 2024, in the American League, Sale has plenty of experience against the Guardians against whom he has a 4.60 ERA in 135 career innings, albeit with a 3.95 FIP and 3.27 xFIP. (That’s a lot of innings over which to run a HR/FB rate north of 16 percent.) He made one start against Cleveland last season and allowed one run and struck out five over 6 1/3 innings.



Saturday, April 27, 7:20 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)

Tanner Bibee (5 GS, 24.1 IP, 23.4 K%, 10.8 BB%, 4.44 ERA, 4.76 FIP)

Right-hander Tanner Bibee will get the start in Saturday’s matchup. Bibee, a fifth-round pick by the Guardians in the 2021 Draft out of Cal State Fullerton, is another of Cleveland’s young arms that joined the rotation last season. Bibee has allowed three runs or less in four of his five starts, but this belies the fact that his season has been insanely inconsistent to date. He had a 4/5 K/BB ratio in his first start, but then dominated the Twins with a 9/0 K/BB ratio. Then he struggled again against the White Sox with a 2/3 K/BB ratio, wriggled out of trouble in Fenway park despite a 3/2 mark, and most recently had an 8/2 K/BB ratio against the Athletics. He’s also allowed a homer in four straight starts. Like Allen, this will be his first time facing the Braves.

Bibee’s breaking pitches seem to have really lost their shape in the offseason, and now look horrible on paper. The changeup has been effective for him consistently, but it lacks depth.

Charlie Morton (4 GS, 23.0 IP, 23.2 K%, 10.5 BB%, 4.70 ERA, 3.81 FIP)

Charlie Morton will make his fifth start of the season for the Braves in Saturday’s game. Morton went into his last start needing a good performance and delivered, holding the Rangers to just two runs over six innings, without times-through-the-order or left-handed batter drama. Morton has pitched into the sixth inning in all four of his starts this season.



Sunday, April 28, 1:35 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)

Ben Lively (2 GS, 11.1 IP, 33.3 K%, 2.4 BB%, 2.38 ERA, 3.25 FIP)


Righty Ben Lively will get the start for Cleveland in the finale Sunday. Lively has bounced around a bit in his career, including stints with the Reds, Phillies and Royals. He also spent time in the KBO from 2019 until 2021. Sunday’s game will be his third start with the Guardians this season, and the first two have been money. Weirdly, they’ve both come against the Red Sox, and he struck out seven while allowing a homer in each. Lively has faced the Braves twice in his career where he has allowed 17 hits and nine runs in 12 innings; both of those games came during the 2017 season.

An extreme junkballer at this point, Lively looks like the starting version of Jesse Chavez, and honestly, with a 14/1 K/BB ratio to this point, who’s arguing?

Bryce Elder (1 GS, 6.2 IP, 15.4 K%, 0.0 BB%, 0.00 ERA, 2.41 FIP)

Bryce Elder will stick in the Braves’ rotation and make his second start of the season in Sunday’s game. Elder scattered eight hits and didn’t walk anyone while tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Marlins. Elder faced the Guardians once last season where he allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings, despite a 1/2 K/BB ratio.

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Mistake-prone Guardians chopped down by Braves’ pressure in 6-2 loss

Updated: Apr. 26, 2024, 10:02 p.m.|Published: Apr. 26, 2024, 9:56 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

ATLANTA -- The Guardians like to use their offense and baserunning to pressure the opposition into mistakes. Friday night they discovered that Atlanta plays that game as well.

Cleveland, in the opening game of a series between the teams with the best records in the big leagues, made one too many mistakes in a 6-2 loss to the Braves at Truist Park.

First baseman David Fry was called for obstruction and right-hander Tyler Beede a balk which led to three of Atlanta’s six runs. The Braves (18-6) have won 10 of their last 11 games. The Guards (18-8) have won nine of their last 12.

Steven Kwan started the game with a homer off Chris Sale. It was his third homer of the season and the third leadoff homer of his career. It was also Cleveland’s first and only lead of the night.

The Braves erased that deficit with three runs in the third. Lefty Logan Allen, in his first career start against Atlanta, walked Austin Riley and hit Matt Olson with a pitch to start the inning. Then things took an unusual turn.

Catcher Austin Hedges tried to pick off Olson at first. Fry reached over Olson to catch the ball and first base umpire Brian Knight charged him with obstruction. The call advanced Riley to third, Olson to second and hit Fry with an error.

Marcell Ozuna, who entered the game leading the big leagues with 29 RBI, doubled into the left field corner to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Michael Harris II, with two outs, made it 3-1 with a double to center.

The Braves applied more pressure the deeper the game went.

Ozzie Albies, just off the injured list, doubled to right in the fifth with one out. Allen came up empty on a pickoff attempt, but did retire Riley for the second out.

Then the Allen wild pitched Albies to third with Olson compounding the problem with a single for a 4-1 lead. Allen’s night was over and he was greeted by the Tomahawk Chop. The lights dimmed at the ballpark, a drum beat came over the sound system and over 40,000 fans wielding lighted cellphones serenaded him off the field.

Beede had two out in the sixth when he walked Ronald Acuna Jr. He was charged with a balk on a pickoff attempt to send Acuna to second. Albies followed with a single for a 5-1 lead.

Atlanta’s final run came in the eighth on a homer by Orlando Arcia off Pedro Avila.

Sale (3-1, 3.69) retired the last 17 batters he faced. Hedges was the last batter to reach base against him when made it to first on Olson’s error in the second.

The 6-foot-6 lefty is no stranger to Cleveland. Friday night was his 33rd appearance against the Indians/Guardians. Sale, 35, is 7-8 lifetime against them. He struck out six and walked one in seven inning Friday night.

The Guardians were held to five hits. Fry singled home their second and final run in the ninth.

Next: RHP Tanner Bibee (2-0, 4.44) vs. RHP Charlie Morton (2-0, 4.70) Saturday at 7:20 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.



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Braves Get Star Back Ahead Of Guardians Series

April 26, 2024

By Andres Chavez

In addition to the already difficult Braves lineup, they will be be getting back another top performer.

Just ten days ago, Atlanta Braves infielder Ozzie Albies was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured toe.

One would expect such an injury to take at least a few weeks to heal: last season, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge missed almost two months with torn big toe ligaments.

Albies’ body, however, did some miraculous healing.

On Friday, just ten days after his placement on the injured list, the Braves have reinstated him and he will be available to return.

“The #Braves today reinstated INF Ozzie Albies from the 10-day injured list,” they tweeted.

Talk about a quick recovery!

Not only that, but there were reports saying that Albies was performing fielding drills over the last weekend to get himself ready to return to the field.

Having Albies back is obviously excellent news for manager Brian Snitker and the offense.

He is slashing a cool .317/.386/.492 batting line in his first 15 games, with two home runs and two stolen bases.

Last year, he homered a career-high 33 times.

The Braves were already a tough team to beat, especially at home, but they just got even tougher.


[ Y'a know what? The more the merrier! Playing with their best team on the field will be a good test for the Guardians. When this series concludes, we should have a fairly good idea as to whether or not the Guards can compete with the big boys. David vs Goliath? That's a stretch, but let's face it. Yesterday's "blowout" win for the Braves was easy for the most part. Sales retiring 17 in a row. The Braves leading 6-1 heading into the 9th. But you know what? With a run in and with one out and two on, we were two hits away from tying the game in the 9th. Just didn't have the right man in the right spot those last two outs. Quoting Mr. Feller, "Just put the loss behind and start all over again." ]

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Guardians (18-8)
@
Braves (18-6)

7:20 PM
Truist Park

Tanner Bibee (CLE)
RHP
2-0, 4.44 ERA, 26 SO

Charlie Morton (ATL)
RHP
2-0, 4.70 ERA, 22 SO

CLE Lineup
Steven Kwan (L) LF
Andrés Giménez (L) 2B
José Ramírez (S) 3B
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Will Brennan (L) RF
Tyler Freeman (R) CF
Estevan Florial (L) DH
Bo Naylor (L) C
Gabriel Arias (R) SS

ATL Lineup
Ronald Acuña Jr. (R) RF
Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
Austin Riley (R) 3B
Matt Olson (L) 1B
Marcell Ozuna (R) DH
Orlando Arcia (R) SS
Michael Harris II (L) CF
Travis d'Arnaud (R) C
Jarred Kelenic (L) LF

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Formidable enough lineup against righties.
Wish I could say the same against lefties.
Hope this situation improves soon enough.
Next question, how do we get more innings out of the starters.

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That was tense! My hands are still shaking.
Great game to watch.
Free game on MLB network.
Bibee was outstanding.
Just what the doctor ordered.
What about Barlow in the 10th escaping a bases loaded, no out situation?!?
This team never quits.
J-Ram - what more can be said??

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