CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Only one team that played at Progressive Field struggled offensively on Thursday and unfortunately for Cleveland fans, it was the Guardians.
Cleveland was outhit 29-14 on Thursday by Los Angeles as the Guardians drop the last two of the three-game series to the Dodgers.
The one-two punch at the top of the lineup for the Dodgers was too much for the Guardians' pitching staff to handle. Combined, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman went 12-17 with 4 RBIs on Thursday.
Betts even had his second career five-hit game this afternoon. He’s the first MLB player with a five-hit game against Cleveland since Nathaniel Lowe did it with Texas on August 24th, 2021, exactly two years ago today.
“He’s very disruptive,” manager Terry Francona said about Mookie Betts. “We saw the hitting, but his baserunning is extraordinary. He’s a pretty phenomenal player.”
The Guardians lost the second game 9-3. The bottom of the lineup was active in the batter’s box and on the basepaths to put the Guardians on the board early. Gabriel Arias and Will Brennan were both awarded stolen bases as Brennan was caught in a rundown between first and second, which Arias found as an opportunity to score.
“I thought we were very fortunate,” Francona said. “We’re getting ourselves in a rundown. Arias did a very good job to score because we’re hung up there. Somebody’s going to be out, and that’s not really what we’re looking to do there. That was not a play.”
Arias was called safe at home and Brennan reached second base safely as well. Then, catcher Bo Naylor ripped an RBI double down the right-field line to drive in Brennan.
Cleveland didn’t hold a lead for long as Los Angeles responded in the third inning. Kike Hernandez opened the third with a double and came around to score on a Mookie Betts RBI single. Betts scored after Freddie Freeman doubled and David Peralta grounded out to pitcher Gavin Williams.
Williams exited in the fifth inning after four more runs scored. Two costly fielding errors by Cleveland along with three Los Angeles base hits were enough for the team to pull the starter.
“I thought they made him work as a good lineup will do,” Francona said. “Pitch count was high. We got to the fifth and I think things got a little skewed, but his stuff continues to be very good. I thought he made mistakes with some offspeed pitches, but again he competes, he’s learning, and it’s not always going to be perfect. This is a pretty good lineup.”
Williams was charged with the loss as he gave up four earned runs on eight hits, walked two batters, and had five strikeouts on 96 pitches, 63 of which were strikes.
“I can’t leave the ball over the plate really,” Williams said. “I can’t let Mookie or Freddie get on base. I mean, when they got on base they scored every time.”
The only other run scored by Cleveland was in the 8th when Gabriel Arias led off the inning with a solo home run. He drilled a 1-2 pitch 425 feet to the center field bushes for his 8th homer of the season.
Before the second game, Cleveland activated catcher Cam Gallagher from the 7-day injured list and optioned Brayan Rocchio to Triple-A Columbus. The Guardians also called up pitcher Hunter Gaddis as the 27th man for the second game. Gaddis gave up two runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings of relief in the series finale.
The Guardians fell to the Dodgers 6-1 after resuming play of Wednesday night’s suspended game on Thursday afternoon. It was the club’s 16th time with 4-or-fewer hits in a game this season.
Xzavion Curry was charged with the loss after giving up three earned runs on Wednesday night.
Cleveland’s only run was scored in the first inning before resuming play on Thursday. Jose Ramirez hit his 19th home run of the season on a 2-2 pitch from Clayton Kershaw.
The resumption of Wednesday night’s suspended game marked the first suspension of a game in Cleveland since 1994. Cleveland is now 3-3 overall in suspended games that were resumed.
Rather than boo at the Guardians' lack of offense, the 23,533 fans at Progressive Field were loudest when the grounds crew brought out the tarp to start the ninth inning. The delay came at 2:17pm due to impending weather conditions in the area. The delay lasted an hour and 24 minutes.
John Adams was honored before Thursday’s game. August 24th marks the 50th anniversary of Adams’ drum debut at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. President of the John J. Adams Scholarship Fund, Vicki Dolinsky-Arida, presented a pregame gift of $5,000 to The Music Settlement to support the Center for Music Therapy.
To further honor his legacy, Cleveland will rename the left field bleachers after Adams beginning on Opening Day 2024, and the team is loaning Adams’ drum to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Guardians players also wore the JA Memorial Patch in the series finale against the Dodgers.
The Guardians (60-68) visit the Great White North tomorrow for a three-game series against the Blue Jays (70-57). Rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee (9-3, 3.01 ERA) will open the series for Cleveland on the mound. Bibee was credited with a win in his only career start against Toronto on August 8th. He pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out six Blue Jay batters.
