CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Just a few hours before the Guardians were set to open a three-game series with the Mariners at Progressive Field, manager Terry Francona revealed Zach Plesac, tabbed to start Friday night, and Aaron Civale, who was penciled in for Saturday, were headed to the injured list.
Plesac (3-11, 4.39 ERA) headed to the shelf with a right-hand fracture, Civale (2-6, 5.40 ERA) is dealing with right forearm inflammation.
Surprised? At this point, not really.
This is the same Plesac who suffered a freak thumb injury last season while ripping off his jersey and slamming his thumb on a clubhouse chair following a disappointing start. Civale, meanwhile, has spent time on the IL twice this season with a glute strain and a sprained right wrist.
The revelation thrust rookie Cody Morris into his first Major League start, the sixth pitcher and 15th Guardian to make his Big League debut. He tossed 2.0 IP, allowing 4H, 3R (2ER) and striking out three in a 6-1 loss to Seattle.
“I thought the ball comes out good,” Francona said. “There’s something there. I can see why everyone likes him so much.”
Looking at the radar gun, there was plenty to like. Morris was consistently in the 95-97MPH range but struggled with his command on his changeup.
“His changeup is probably his second-best pitch, and even (pitching coach) Carl (Willis) said in the bullpen he didn’t have a good one.
So that didn’t help,” Francona said.
What also didn’t help was the Guardians suddenly scuffling offense of late. Cleveland finally broke a scoreless streak of 27-innings when Richie Palacios scored on a throwing error by Julio Rodriguez in the 7th inning.
The last time Cleveland had a scoreless innings stretch of 25 innings or more was 1991. That club set the record for most losses in franchise history.
By that point, the Guardians were already down 6-0. Mitch Haninger had a pair of doubles and two RBIs in the first two innings and Cal Raleigh hit two home runs and collected four RBIs to account for the entirety of the Seattle offense.
“Sometimes the game beats you up a little bit,” Francona said.
The Guardians couldn’t solve Luis Castillo again. Less than a week after the right hander limited Cleveland to one run over six innings on August 27th, he was back in top-notch form tossing six more scoreless innings.
Castillo limited Cleveland hitters to just five singles.
“He manipulates the ball really well. He’s got a four seamer, but he’s got that two seamer against lefties,” Francona said. “I think the one he ran in against Gimmy (Andres Gimenez) was almost a strike, it was coming back.”
With Plesac and Civale now on the shelf, the Guardians will turn to Xzavion Curry on Saturday. But the club’s lead in the AL Central is dwindling after Minnesota beat
“We’ve got to come back tomorrow against another good pitcher and see if we can bet him,” Francona said.
NOTES – Prior to Friday night’s game, Guardians’ reliever Emmanuel Clase was named American League reliever of the month for August.
Clase made 13 appearances for the Guardians last month, converting each of his seven save opportunities and posting a 0.79 ERA while recording 12 strikeouts and zero walks.
On the season, the fireballer has only blown two saves and has converted 24 consecutive saves.