Cal Quantrill completed his August with another solid start, allowing just one hit and one earned run in six innings as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1, on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.
"I had confidence the boys were gonna score some runs," Quantrill stated after the game. "I knew if I kept us in the game, we'd win, so it was kind of a grind. I really didn't pitch that well today, but [I] kept them off the board for the most part, and the boys came through."
Quantrill (11-5), who is now 12-0 in 39 career games at Progressive Field, retired 10 consecutive batters while striking out four and drawing three walks in his fourth victory for his last six starts (all coming in August). The right-hander’s outing was his sixth consecutive to last at least six innings, as well as his fourth to allow one earned run or less during that stretch.
"When you're talking about someone being consistent...that's what guys are trying to get to," Guardians manager Terry Francona added on his starter's performance. "There were some balls that were hit, and some deep counts...but, there's also some games where you pitch pretty good and you give up some you shouldn't. Good for him, man. Good for us."
Quantrill, who has not lost a start since July 5, also received a few key defensive stands by his teammates, including rookie Will Benson’s deep center field catch on a Rougned Odor fly ball in the top of the 5th.
"The wall's probably more hurt than I am," Benson joked when asked if he had been hurt when colliding with the center field canvas.
Ramon Urias scratched the only Orioles hit and scored run off Quantrill (via a 2nd inning sacrifice fly by Ryan Mountcastle) in the top of the 2nd.
The Guardians (68-59) lineup, meanwhile, overcame the early Baltimore offensive strike by scoring five runs over the fourth and fifth innings of Tuesday’s contest, beginning with Josh Naylor’s 2-run home run (Naylor’s 16th of the year) off Orioles starter Spenser Watkins (4-5; 4.2 IP, six hits, five earned runs, three strikeouts) in the bottom of the 4th. Just before Naylor's at-bat, Watkins had retired the first 11 Cleveland batters before Jose Ramirez broke through for a two-out single.
One inning later, Steven Kwan’s 2-run double down the left field line – followed by Amed Rosario’s sacrifice fly in the next at-bat – extended the Guardians’ lead.
Cleveland’s bullpen outout of Trevor Stephen, James Karinchak, and Emmanuel Clase continued their recent dominatation of opposing teams with no runs or hits surrendered over the final three innings, with just two base runners allowed via a walk and an error, respectively.
The Guardians will play Baltimore on Wednesday night (6:10 p.m. start), with Triston McKenzie (9-10, 3.17 earned run average) set to start against O’s right-hander Jordan Lyles (9-9, 4.45 ERA).
