The Guardians won their fifth straight yesterday, in gritty fashion, beating the White Sox 3-1.
Zach has your recap here. CJ Kayfus and Brayan Rocchio were the standouts on the position player side, along with Joey Cantillo and the bullpen on the pitching side. Cade Smith, especially, looked absolutely dominant in the ninth. I cannot help but feel a little trepidation about the bullpen’s ability to keep this performance up, but I am just enjoying every game while it lasts, right now. This entire five-game winning streak has been maintained despite a cold spell from Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, which is perhaps the most impressive aspect of it.
The Tigers lost to the Angels yesterday, so the Guardians are now only five back in the division. Five games back on August 10th isn’t great for a division race, of course, but compared to fifteen games back on July 7th, it’s amazing!
The Yankees won, so the Guardians remain half a game back in the race for the third wildcard. I am really hoping for and looking forward to an actual playoff race. Having the division lead is ideal, of course, but every day feeling like it’s do-or-die is a special feeling as a sports fan.
John Means is beginning to pitch in games in Arizona, so that’s encouraging:
Let’s see if they can get this sweep today and then the boys get to come home where I hope Guardians’ fans will pack Progressive Field!