The Guardians had an offensive explosion and beat the White Sox 9-5 last night.
Nick has your recap here. One of the most encouraging things about the four-game win-streak is that Jose Ramirez has yet to get going during it. You’d assume he will fix that in short order. Nick took Bieber to task, and I think that’s fair. I also think he had some bad luck and a particularly egregious missed third strike. If the Guardians want to go anywhere, they need Bieber to be a solid option at the front of a rotation, so that’s important to follow the remainder of the season.
There were some makeble plays for both Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio that didn’t happen. I do think the infield defense from them and Jose, especially, will need to be excellent, as well. And, hey, it was great to see a blast from the past with the 4-RBI Carlos Santana game. It would be so special if he can give the Guardians a strong finish to his last go-around with the franchise. Am I saying that WILL happen? No, unfortunately, it’s more likely time has caught up to him. But, I am ready to be delighted by a surprise.
I thought it was a good sign that Stephen Vogt left CJ Kayfus in right field for the 9th inning. Showing confidence in him as a fielder is good news on how they feel his outfield transition is going. And, he made a nice play to end the game!
In case you missed it, Zack Meisel said in the Selby is Godcast discord that Chris Antonetti said pitcher Daniel Espino is throwing off the mound in Arizona but won’t make a debut with an affiliate this season. So, if you’re holding on to any hope there, your sights are set on Spring Training.
The Yankees and Rangers lost so the Guardians are alone in being .5 games behind New York for the third wildcard. Thought for a second the Tigers were gonna make it so they were only 5 games back in the division, but the Angels’ bullpen did their usual thing and Detroit won by 1 run on a night Tarik Skubal was… bad…?!?! He can keep that up, if he wants, though.