The All-Star break might have been exactly what the doctor ordered for the Guardians.
After struggling in their last two series leading into the break – dropping 3 of 4 against the Tigers and 2 of 3 against the Rays – the Guardians returned looking like the team that got them to the top of the AL Central, shutting out the Padres in a decisive 7-0 victory.
The bats were slow to start, but they were facing something unfamiliar in Padres starter Matt Waldron, who is the first knuckleballer to start against Cleveland since R.A. Dickey in 2016.
Daniel Schneemann was the lone batter to get a notch against Waldron, hitting an RBI double in the 5th that scored David Fry to give the Guardians the 1-0 advantage.
After Waldron was relieved in the 7th, the Guardians bats took off in the 8th, brining in 6 runs and putting up their 2nd highest scoring frame of 2024 – the top one being a 7 run 2nd against Toronto on June 21.
Tonight’s highlights from the offense included eleven hits on the night, three of which came from Fry after going 3-for-3 with a walk, and Steven Kwan going 2-for-4 and tying Jose Ramirez for a club-leading 29 multi hit games on the season.
Tanner Bibee struck out three through 5 2/3 shut out innings.
There were points where there seemed to be some frustration from Bibee as several outside calls didn’t go his way, but he was never thrown off his game. Even with calls seemingly not going Bibee’s way, he still only gave up a season-tying low 2 hits.
“The only thing that was going through my mind was that I was mad I didn’t make it through six,” the righty said after the game. “I’m never going to not like a performance where I go scoreless, but that one more out would’ve made me happy.”
Giving Bibee that last out would’ve been pushing him to his limits, considering his pitch count was at 102 when he was pulled, and Stephen Vogt knew it.
“They did a really good job early, fouling a lot of pitches off and making him work and got his pitch count up – he was over 50 pitches through three,” Vogt said. “But he fought, battled, and found a way to keep them off the scoreboard.”
If there was any concern about the Guardians’ heading in to the break, tonight’s game likely alleviated a lot of it. It’s clear the Guardians are in full go mode for the second half of the season with the post season in their sights.
“It’s a nice combination of keep doing what we’re doing and take it up a notch,” Bibee said. “We’re in a major bye mode, I hope. Everyone really wants to win and we came back well rested and ready to go for the rest of the year.”
There’s no telling what the front office will do over the next two weeks as the July 30th trade deadline is fast approaching, but as long as the team keeps their foot on the gas, they’ll be getting that bye that Bibee said they’re hoping for.
