CLEVELAND, Ohio – It was a picture-perfect day Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.
The sun was shining, the Guardians had a 1-0 lead over the Houston Astros and Triston McKenzie had retired 14-straight batters.
Then, suddenly the skies opened up towards the end of the 7th inning, sending most of the 22,688 in attendance running for cover from a pop-up rain shower.
“I haven't figured out a way to control that. So, you just remind him, ‘hey, don't make a pitch unless you're comfortable on the mound,’” said Manager Terry Francona. “I do want him to not pitch unless he's comfortable pitching.”
The brief shower didn’t slow anything down, namely the Guardians starter. McKenzie was masterful, tossing 8 shutout innings and striking out eight batters in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros to salvage a series-split.
“They’re one of the best teams in baseball. To be able to split a series with them is big,” McKenzie said.
The Astros barely touched McKenzie, only nicking him for a pair of hits in the second inning before he began to roll. He retired 18 consecutive Astros before Kyle Tucker’s pinch-hit walk in the 8th inning. McKenzie needed just 91 pitches to get through eight frames.
“I think they're a team that does damage when they're able to have really, really good at bats consistently,” McKenzie said. “If you're able to take that out and have some quick outs, it messes up the rhythm and it allows us to kind of find a rhythm of our own about on defense.”
Rain delays can be a touchy subject in Cleveland.
With the way McKenzie was pitching, the Guardians didn’t want anything to disrupt his rhythm. Despite the grounds crew perched on the tarp waiting for the signal, the only stoppage was a brief delay at the top of the 8th for the umpires to ask to turn on the stadium lights
“I was super locked into pitching,” McKenzie said. “It was a little muddy, but it wasn't it wasn't quite enough to where I was slipping. It was it was pretty light at that point, and I had a decent, quick inning.”
Houston starter Christian Javier had never allowed a run against Cleveland coming into Sunday. His lone blemish came off the bat of Luke Maile in the fifth inning, and proved to be the difference. Maile left the yard for the first time since 2019, when he was a member of the Blue Jays, with 377-foot shot onto the home run porch in right field.
That was the extent of the excitement on offense. McKenzie cruised up until the 8th inning when the only danger he faced was Jose Altuve, who pinch-hit with one out following Tucker’s walk.
Slow and deliberate working from the stretch after more than two-hours without a baserunner, McKenzie attacked Altuve and induced him into an inning-ending double play, pounding his fist into his glove after recording the out.
“I think it was less the guy and more just the spot the team was in,” McKenzie said. “Being 1-0 in the eighth, I think that's a huge out.
Especially a huge double play to end the inning to get us in there for the ninth.”
McKenzie’s eight scoreless innings matched a career-high.
The 25-year-old tossed three innings with six pitches or less. Sporting a new haircut, the Guardians saw more of the same pitcher that has established himself as one of the most consistent arms in the rotation this season.
“Today, he threw a couple of 90 MPH fastballs by some pretty good hitters when they were expecting the fastballs to come,” said McKenzie catcher Luke Maile. “Obviously he's got 95, 96 in the tank, but when 90 is getting them, you know that they're trying to pick a side. That kind of speaks to how good his command with the fastball leading up to that particular pitch.”
Sundays win marked the seventh-straight series the Guardians have either split or won, and they needed their starting pitcher to be at the top of his game to do so.
Including a start at Minute Maid Park in May, McKenzie allowed just one run in 15 innings of work against the Astros this season.
“He had had no margin for error today and fortunately he didn’t make any,” Francona said.
KWAN RETURNS – Steven Kwan returned to the starting lineup following a one-game absence after fouling a ball off his foot.
Kwan resumed his spot atop the order batting leadoff and went 2-for-3 with a walk. His two hits earned Kwan his 26th multi-hit game this season which ties him for second most among rookies in Major League Baseball.