The Cleveland Guardians didn’t just want to retain the Ohio Cup, they wanted an outright win of it. With the late announcement of a bullpen game, considering their performance this season, and Steven Kwan being back in the line-up, it felt like a recipe for success.
To no surprise, Jose Ramirez showed up with the secret ingredient. A three run blast in the bottom of the 8th to put the Guardians up by three, leading to a club win and the 12th outright win of the desired cup starting in 1997, and first since 2000.
The Guardians leave the series 2-0 and 3-4 on the season facing the Reds.
Going, Going, Kwan! - You couldn’t have written a better script for the comeback game of Steven Kwan. Coming off the Injured List on Tuesday, Kwan was back in the line-up for the first time in 11 games on Wednesday. It’s only fitting that in his first at-bat back he drilled a homerun ball to right field. The lefty finished 2-4 on the night, while recording his 39th multi-hit game of the season.
Kwan was happy to be back, but spoke to the other talent on the team that has led to success during his time away. “Watching these last couple weeks has been tough. They really don’t need me out there. They’ve been winning their games, they’ve been doing their thing. But it’s fun to really participate and help towards a win,” said Kwan.
With Kwan coming off of the IL, the Guardians optioned Myles Straw to Triple-A Columbus as they continue in the International League Championship Series.
Bullpen kinda day- Changes were made to the line-up just prior to the start of today’s game. Instead of going ahead with the originally scheduled starting pitcher, Joey Cantillo, the Guardians decided to push Cantillo to Friday and make today a bullpen day. “With us clinching the bye, we wanted to get our pitching set up for postseason,” said Stephen Vogt.
The push gave Andrew Walters (1.2IP, 0SO) his first MLB start, going perfect through 1.2 innings. The right-hander is now one of three pitchers in MLB history to begin his career with eight straight hitless outings.
Erik Sabrowski (1.1IP, 3SO) relieved Walters with two outs in the second inning. The rookie struck out the side in order for the first time in his career in the third inning, continuing the no-hitter Walters lead.
Cade Smith (1IP, 2SO) and Eli Morgan (2IP, 2SO) kept the bullpen perfect through six innings. In what felt like could be a no-hitter from the bullpen, was eventually broken up with a bunt single from in the seventh inning off of Tim Herrin (1IP, 2H, 0SO). The bunt ended Cleveland's 31 consecutive retired batters, dating back to Tuesday night’s series opener to the Reds.
“I thought tonight was a really cool night for them to showcase. I thought they’ve been steady for us all year, they’ve just been throwing the ball great and they went out and did it again tonight,” said Vogt. “You can’t ask for anything more than what this bullpen has done for us this year.”
Hunter Gadis (1IP,3H,1ER, 0SO) booked the win after taking things over in the eighth, his 6th win of the season.
Clase making history…again- Tonight was another special night for arguably the best closer in the league. Emmanuel Clase earned his 47th save of the season, breaking the tie with Jose Mesa (1995) for most saves in a single year by a Clevender.
The save did challenge Clase slightly, being in a bases loaded situation after walking two and giving up a hit. To no surprise, Clase found his way out.
“I’m really happy. That was a goal of mine and it’s a reminder that everything in life sometimes can be hard,” said Clase. “It has a little more value that we had to fight to secure the save.”
Tweaks in the Rotation- With the changes to the starting line-up today and Cantillo being pushed back to Friday, the Guardians plan to start Ben Lively on Saturday. That would normally put Matthew Boyd as a starter on Sunday, but the Guardians are deciding to hold Boyd until the postseason. Next up in the rotation would be Gavin Williams, but the Guardians are instead having another opener take his spot and will have the righty come out of the bullpen.
“We want to get Gavin out of the bullpen, he hasn’t done that here yet. That could be a role. Obviously we still have a lot of questions that we need answered still in the regular season, but we want to be prepared for any and every scenario that could happen,” said Vogt.
In preparation for the postseason, Tanner Bibee will be alongside Boyd in getting rest. The plan is to have the pair pitch in simulated games to keep them up to game speed while also ensuring they’re rested for playoffs.
Vogt also came with some good news regarding Alex Cobb. The veteran starter is close to being able to throw a simulated game and looks healthy. They’ll evaluate how he throws in those as he continues to build up his pitches.
Up Next- With the conclusion of the Ohio Cup, the Guardians finish out the regular season hosting the Houston Astros for a three game series. With Joey Cantillo (2-3, 4.63) being bumped from Wednesday night’s start, he’ll see the mound for the series opener on Friday. The Astros are set to send RHP, Ronel Blanco (12-6, 2.88) to the rubber.
The Astros clinched the American League West title on Tuesday night. This means Houston will play host to the AL Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers. The winner of the best-of-three series will then play the Guardians in the ALDS round.
