CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It’s looking like it’s going to be one of those years.
The Cleveland Guardians dropped another heartbreaker Saturday night, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on a passed ball in the 10th inning at Progressive Field.
Here’s our Final 10 from yet another frustrating night on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
listen to 92.3 the fan
1. Alec Burleson singled to lead off the third inning for St. Louis. It would be the last hit the Cardinals would collect on the night, yet they managed to even the weekend series at one.
2. A passed ball was charged to Guardians reserve catcher David Fry which allowed Cardinals right fielder Brendan Donovan, who started at second for the Cardinals in the top of the tenth and stole third, to score the winning run. “I thought it was a two seamer down that was moving down and just got in between him and the dirt,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. Fry came on in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement after Tyler Freeman pinch hit for starter Cam Gallager in the bottom of the seventh inning. “Nick [Sandlin] made him a good pitch,” Fry said. “Threw a sinker and just thought I had my glove right there on the dirt, but unfortunately went right under my glove into the backstop.”
3. Donovan gave St. Louis an early 1-0 lead with his fifth homer run of the season, a solo shot to the seats in right off Guardians starter Tyler Bibee, in the top of the second inning. “I thought he was really good,” Francona said of Bibee. “The solo home run was a breaking ball slider. Other than that, I thought we saw tonight his best change up. That he’s, at least since he's been here, had the ability to go back and reach for more with his fast ball, which is good. And through the two breaking balls, he was really good.
4. Bibee was spectacular Saturday night. He finished with a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings of work that saw him allow just one run on two hits with a walk. “It's been really fun,” Bibee, who lowered his ERA to 2.88, said. “I think getting to know a lot of these guys. I didn’t get a chance to know when I was in the minors or in spring training or something like that. It's been fun just kind of learning the ropes. Obviously it’s a dream to play in the major leagues, so it’s been good.” Bibee credits his ability to mix up his pitches start to start for his early big league success. “The one thing I’ve learned is that I don’t necessarily need to be the same pitcher every time that I've been out,” Bibee said. “I don’t need to lean on one pitch. I don’t need to punch out 12 every time I go out there. Some days I go out there and sometimes need a double play here and there. Sometimes you need to punch people out. I think that just kind of depends on the day, depends on the other team.”
5. Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the third with a two-out RBI single to right. Steven Kwan, who walked with one out, hustled home from second and slid in and around of Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras’ tag.
6. And that was it for the offense as the power outage continues. Cleveland is now 10-14 in one-run games, and they failed to score more than three runs for the 32nd time in 51 outings, falling to 8-24 in those games. The bottom of the eighth inning summed up the offensive futility. Ramirez led the inning off with a single to right. Donovan booted the ball allowing Ramirez to go to second. He went to third on a wild pitch before Josh Naylor walked. Josh Bell, mired in an 0-12 and 1-16 on the homestand slump, grounded out. Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw both struck out, ending the threat.
7. Amed Rosario appears to be heating up. Following a three-run double Friday night, he collected a pair of doubles Saturday. “I hope so,” Francona said when asked about Rosario’s recent extra base hits. “I mean, when you score one run, I’m not sure I’d want to sit up here and flex our muscles too much. But we’re always looking for a reason to be positive. I mean, but we also know we got to do better.”
8. Naylor collected a pair of singles on his giveaway jersey night, which turned much of the ballpark crowd red. Unfortunately Naylor fouled a ball off his lower leg in the bottom of the eighth before walking. X-rays were negative according to Francona.
9. Guardians reliever James Karinchak walked all three batters he faced in the top of the seventh and left with the bases loaded to a chorus of boos. He threw 16 pitches and just four strikes. “He never established, even in warmups, he never established the fastball down because if he can do that, then he can elevate by design,” Francona said. “But it was kind of all [up] here from, from the get go and just couldn't reel it back in.” Sam Hentges relieved him. Hentges got Paul DeJong to fly out to shallow right, struck out pinch hitter Juan Yepez and Tommy Edman to hit into a fielder’s choice to escape with no damage done. “That was not the easiest situation to come into and he really did good,” Francona said. “Hopefully that kind of gets him on a roll.” Enyel De Los Santos pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless ninth.
10. After drawing the largest April or May non-opening day crowd since 2013 Friday night with 31,303 in the house, the Guardians topped it with 32,224 tickets sold Saturday night marking the first time since 2008 the team drew more than 30,000 fans in back to back games during the first two months of the season.