CLEVELAND - Noah Syndergaard earned his first major league victory in over three months and his first with the Cleveland Guardians, as the home team held on to a 4-3 Thursday afternoon win against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Guardians achieved a split of the four-game homestand against Toronto on the back of Syndergaard’s 5.2-inning outing, in which the right-hander allowed six hits and one earned run while totaling five strikeouts - the most in a game for Syndergaard (2-5) since May 15 against the Minnesota Twins. Syndergaard also retired 12 consecutive Jays hitters in his first victory since Apr. 30, with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a season plagued by injury and on-field struggles during his tenure with L.A., Syndergaard is looking to build and maintain progress with Cleveland.
“Every day, I just try to get a little bit better, whether it’s in between work or my start days,” Syndergaard commented after the game. "Definitely not where I want to be yet, but with the coaches that I have here, they can put me in the right direction.”
The Guardians overcame an early 1-0 deficit (via a 2nd-inning RBI single by Santiago Espinal) by scoring a pair of 2nd-inning runs against Toronto starter Alex Manoah (3-9). Jose Tena - in his first professional start - ripped an RBI single to tie the game, while Brayan Rocchio launched a run-scoring double to give the Guardians a 2-1 advantage.
Rocchio would double again to score Tena in the bottom of the fifth inning, knocking Manoah out of the game. Cleveland later placed runners on second and third with one out when, with Génesis Cabrera in relief and the Jays’ infielders playing shallow, Kole Calhoun ripped an RBI groundout that was misplayed by second baseman Davis Schneider, allowing Rocchio to score from third.
Syndergaard’s day came to an end in the bottom of the 6th, after the Jays loaded the bases with two outs. Nick Sandlin entered in relief and retired Nathan Lukes on a fielder’s choice, but the Guardians’ bullpen worries did not stop there.
The top of the 7th inning began with Enyel De Los Santos allowing three straight hits and a walk to plate two Toronto runs and cut the Cleveland lead to 4-3. De Los Santos was succeeded by Trevor Stephan, who, with two runners on and nobody out, managed to strike out George Springer on a 96-miles-per-hour fastball. After Springer disputed the call while walking back to the dugout, home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak ejected Springer from the game before also tossing Toronto manager John Schneider.
Stephan would allow an infield single to load the bases, but followed with an Alejandro Kirk popout and a swinging strikeout by Schneider to get out of trouble.
“We were kind of in a bind right there,” Francona stated on the top of the 7th. “ Trevor got out of it, which gave us a chance, but then we’re also, to him, an inning early.”
Sam Hentges and Emmanuel Clase each settled down the Jays in order in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively, with Clase notching his 31st save of the year.
The Guardians (56-60) now sit 3.5 games behind Minnesota for the AL Central lead. Cleveland's next game comes on Friday, in a road matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays (69-47). Xzavion Curry (3-1, 2.95 ERA) will square off with former Guardians right-hander Aaron Civale (5-3, 2.55 ERA), who was traded to Tampa Bay ahead of the Jul. 31 trade deadline.
