CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS FALL IN RUBBER MATCH AGAINST BOSTON
The Guardians snapped a 3-game win streak in series finales, falling to the Boston Red Sox by a 7-1 margin on a soggy Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park…Cleveland has dropped 2 of 3 in four consecutive series, as club comes to Yankee Stadium seeking first series victory overall since April 14-16 at Washington.
Rookie southpaw LOGAN ALLEN put forth another admirable outing (5.0IP, 4H, 2R-ER, 2BB, 8SO, 104 pitches), though the pair of runs allowed in the 5th would prove to be enough for the Red Sox; Allen recorded 4.0 scoreless frames to start the day and struck out the side in the 4th before allowing a lead-off single and bloop ground-rule double to start the 5th, setting the table for Alex Verdugo’s 2-run single…Verdugo added a solo homer off PEYTON BATTENFIELD to lead-off a 3-run 7th that also saw Christian Arroyo capitalize on back-to-back walks with a 2-run double…Connor Wong lifted a NICK SANDLIN offering over the Green Monster for a 2-run homer in the 6th…STEVEN KWAN scored Cleveland’s lone run on AMED ROSARIO’s RBI-single in the 6th after reaching on a lead-off double…Chris Sale pitched into the 7th inning of his second win for the BoSox (6.1IP, 3H, 1R-ER, 0BB, 5SO, HB, 98 pitches).
The Clevelanders are 9-7 on the road but have still dropped 9 of their last 13 overall following a 9-6 start to the season…Guardians (13-15) hold sole possession of 2nd place in AL Central standings, 3.5 games behind Minnesota (17-12)…last season, club went 9-12 in April and 12-12 in May.
BATTLE IN THE BRONX
Cleveland is in the Bronx for a 3-game set with the New York Yankees from Monday to Wednesday to finish off a 6-game road trip that included three games in Boston over the weekend…the two clubs faced off from April 10-12 earlier this season with New York-AL taking 2 of 3…the Guardians took the opening contest 3-2 powered by a 7.0-inning, 2R/ER performance from SHANE BIEBER…the Yankees won the second game 11-2, plating 8R/ ER against HUNTER GADDIS…they took the series in a close 4-3 contest that saw them battle back from a 3-0 deficit, plating the decisive run in the 9th inning off EMMANUEL CLASE… Cleveland’s last time at Yankee Stadium came in the 2022 ALDS when New York-AL won the series 3-2 to advance to the ALCS… New York-AL won game one only to have Cleveland take the following two games, featuring a walk-off 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single from OSCAR GONZALEZ in the bottom of the 9th in game 3…the Yankees won Games 4 and 5 to advance.
The Guardians are 5-11 against New York-AL since the start of 2021, owning a 3-7 record at Progressive Field and a 2-4 record at Yankee Stadium…Cleveland’s last season series win against New York-AL came in 2019 when they went 4-3…overall, Cleveland holds a 393-603 road record against the Yankees and an overall record of 878-1117 against them all-time.
The Guards enter today having lost four straight series and six of their nine series this season…the last time the club dropped four straight series came from June 24-July 7, 2021 (at MIN 1-2, vs. DET 1-2, vs. HOU 0-3, at TB 0-3).
In 25 regular season games at Yankee Stadium, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ has 9 home runs and 18 RBI with a .437 batting average (38-for87), his highest at any opponent’s ballpark…he has a .263 average (5-for-19) across 5 career Postseason games at Yankee Stadium.
GETTING WARMED UP
After falling to the Red Sox on Sunday, Cleveland finished with a 12-14 record in April…during the TERRY FRANCONA Era (since 2013) the Guardians have had a winning record only 3 times in April, going 15-10 in 2019, 14-11 in 2018, and 14-10 in 2017…the club finished 9-12 in 022, 12-12 in 2021, 10-11 in 2016, 7-14 in 2015, 10-17 in 2014 and 11-13 in 2013.
Since 2013, Cleveland’s offense has struggled in the season’s opening month, posting its lowest totals in runs per game (4.19), average (.238), OBP (.311), SLG (.391) and home runs (251)…the offense finished April averaging 3.81 runs per game with a slash line of .231/.310/.358 and 17 home runs…it’s the lowest home run total in April for any Cleveland team under Francona and the third instance of averaging lower than 3.85 runs per game (3.80 in 2018 and 3.76 in 2015)…looking forward, the Guardians have posted their 2nd-best monthly runs per game (4.79), slugging percentage (.420) and home run (288) totals in May.
MONTHLY OFFENSIVE SPLITS, SINCE 2013
MONTH R/GM AVG OBP SLG R HR
April 4.19 .238 .311 .391 985 247
May 4.79 .254 .329 .420 1212 288
June 4.59 .256 .320 .418 1096 268
July 4.81 .264 .332 .429 1134 273
August 4.43 .252 .321 .409 1240 316
September 4.60 .255 .326 .412 1265 286
LOGAN’S LEGENDARY START
In his first career start on the road, LOGAN ALLEN threw 5.0 innings, allowing 2 R/ER with 8 strikeouts…after 8 punchouts in his Major League debut on April 23 vs. Miami, he is now the second player in Cleveland history to strikeout 8-or-more batters in each of his first 2 career starts and the first since Herb Score struck out 9 batters in each of his first 2 career starts in 1955…only 15 other players have ever accomplished the feat with TB’s Taj Bradley also achieving it this season (8SO on 4/12 and 9SO on 4/18).
Allen is now the 7th pitcher in MLB history with 8-or-more strikeouts and 2-or-fewer earned runs in each of his first 2 career starts and the first since Dinelson Lamet in 2017 while he was with the Padres…the rookie left-hander is the only Cleveland pitcher with multiple games of 8-or-more strikeouts this season.
STOP HITTING ME
ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ was hit by a pitch for the 5th time this season yesterday, ranking T4th in the AL and MLB…since the start of last season Giménez has been plunked 30 times, tied for MLB lead with NYM’s Mark Canha…after being hit 25 times in 2022, he holds the single-season franchise record ahead of Ryan Garko who was hit 20 times in 2007.
The infielder is 4-for-15 with 2 doubles, one home run and one RBI over his past four games…he has a slashline of .253/.333/.384 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI this season…his 21 runs are T5th in the AL with TB’s Randy Arozarena, BAL’s Jorge Mateo and HOU’s Jeremy Peña
TONIGHT’S STARTER – #47 CAL QUANTRILL RHP
TONIGHT’S START
The 28-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his sixth start of the season, fourth on the road, this evening in the opening matchup of a 3-game series against the New York Yankees…is starting on extended 6 days rest after his shortest outing of the season on April 24 in a 6-0 loss vs. Colorado…in his career, he is 4-5 with a 4.92 ERA (45ER/82.1IP) on 6+ days rest…the Guardians are 3-2 in Quantrill starts this season.
LAST TIME OUT
He last toed the rubber on April 24, getting tagged with the loss in a 6-0 defeat vs. Colorado after allowing 8 hits and 5 runs (earned) in 3.1 innings while tallying a pair of strikeouts and walks…it marked his second loss in as many home starts this season, bringing his career home record down to 20-5 after entering 2023 with a 20-3 record…he faced trouble almost immediately as the second batter of the game, Jurickson Profar, hit a solo home run to right field to put the Rockies ahead 1-0…after allowing a hit in the 2nd and 3rd innings, Quantrill failed to get out of the 4th…after two singles and a walk, Ezequiel Tovar roped a 2-RBI single to make it 3-0…after another walk, Profar struck again with the second 2-RBI single of the inning, ending Quantrill’s day with Colorado ahead 5-0.
NEW YORK NEMESIS
Is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA (4ER/10.2IP) in 4 career regular season appearances (1 start) vs. New York-AL…Quantrill did not factor into the decision in his last regular season start against New York-AL on April 23, 2022 (ND, 6.1IP, 3R/ER, 3BB, 2SO), which was his first career start at Yankee Stadium, as the Guards fell 5-4…Quantrill has also faced the Yankees three times in the Postseason, most recently losing two starts in the 2022 ALDS in G1 (L, 5.0IP, 4H, 4R/3ER, 3BB, 5SO) and G4 at Progressive Field (L, 4H, 3R/ER, 1BB, 3SO).
He is 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA (32ER/76.1IP) in 17 career games/13 career starts against the AL East…the Guards have won in each of Quantrill’s last four starts against the division, dating back to July 27, 2022.
CAN ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER
Throughout his Guardians tenure, Quantrill has shown a knack for rebounding from losses…in 9 games/8 starts with Cleveland directly following losses, the righty is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA (18ER/49.2IP) with 13 walks and 39 strikeouts, with Cleveland sporting a 6-3 record in those outings…he has never lost consecutive decisions as a Clevelander, last occurring from Aug. 20-Sept. 15, 2019 as member of the San Diego Padres when he lost a career-high five straight starts.
RECENT ROAD WARRIOR
Since starting 2022 with a 1-5 record in his first 7 road tilts, Quantrill has turned things around and won 6 consecutive decisions across his last 9 starts away from home…since July 22, 2022, Quantrill holds an unblemished 6-0 record with a 2.77 ERA (16ER/52.0IP), along with 42 strikeouts and 13 walks in his road starts during that span…he has received 4-or-more runs of support in 6 of those 9 starts…Quantrill has had an 8.13 RSA on the road since July 22, 2022, leading all MLB pitchers with 8-or-more road starts during that timeframe.
CRAFTY CAL
Through his first five starts, Quantrill has relied heavily on his sinker as he has thrown it for over half of his pitches this season… he has evenly distributed his sinker against righties and lefties this season, throwing 125 of them to right-handers and 118 to left-handers…hitters have not missed on much of his arsenal this season as each of his offerings has a .250 or better batting average against.
NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:
AT A GLANCE: The Yankees will begin a three-game homestand vs. the Cleveland Guardians tonight (through Wed.)…went 2-5 on their recent seven-game road trip, losing two-of-three at Minnesota and three-of-four at Texas…after an off day on Thursday, will embark on a three-game road trip to Tampa Bay (Fri.-Sun.).
Have lost a season-high-tying three straight games (also 4/23-25)…have not lost four straight games since a five-game losing streak from 8/2-7/22. Are 8-5 following a loss this season.
Have won or split six of their nine series this season (going 5-3-1)…have lost each of their last three series after winning or splitting each of their first six.
Are in a 16-day stretch without an off day (4/18-5/3).
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Yankees fell to the Rangers, 15-2, on Sunday at Globe Life Field…LHP Nestor Cortes (4.2IP, 5H, 7ER, 4BB, 7K, 3HR) started and took the loss… Yankees pitchers allowed a season-high 15R, their most in a game since 8/15/19 vs. Cleveland (19R)…marked their largest margin of defeat since 7/29/21 at Tampa Bay (14-0 loss)…3B Oswald Peraza (1-for-4, 1RBI) drove in the Yankees’ first run with an RBI groundout in the third inning…C Kyle Higashioka (1-for-3, 1RBI, 1BB) drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning…SS Anthony Volpe (1-for-4, 1 double) recorded the Yankees’ only extra-base hit with a third-inning double…CF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2-for-4) and LF Aaron Hicks (2-for-4, 1R) were the only two Yankees to record multi-hit games… RHP Albert Abreu (1.0IP, 2H, 6ER, 4BB, 1K, 1HR) allowed a career-high-tying 6ER…LHP Nick Ramirez (2.1IP, 4H, 2ER, 2K) allowed 2ER in 2.1IP.
EN GARD!: Including the postseason, the Yankees are 10-4 vs. Cleveland since 2022 and 16-7 against Cleveland since 2020.
NOBODY BEATS THE RIZZ: INF Anthony Rizzo is batting .291/.364/.494 (23-for-79) with 10R, 4 doubles, 4HR, 9RBI, 5BB and 4HP in his last 21 games (since 4/9).
Has reached base in 23 of his first 28 games this season… has recorded a hit in 22 of his 28 games this year.
Including the postseason, has reached base safely in 19 of his last 21 games vs. the Guardians, batting .324/.451/.541 (24-for-74) with 11R, 4 doubles, 4HR, 11RBI, 14BB and 3HP in that span (since 8/12/20).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Yankees have won or split four of their five series at home this season…are 5-3 in their last eight games (since 4/15).
INF Anthony Rizzo has batted .340/.438/.679 (18-for53) with 8R, 3 doubles, 5HR, 9RBI, 7BB and 3HP in 15 home games this season.
INF DJ LeMahieu is hitting .304/.385/.565 (14-for-46) with 9R, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2HR, 7RBI, 4BB and 2HP in 13 games at home this season.
Yankees batters have hit 23HR in 16 games at home this year.
ON A ROLL: OF Willie Calhoun has hit safely in each of his last four starts, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with 1R and 2RBI over that span.
Has reached base in each of his last seven starts and in nine of his 10 starts this season.
Has recorded 1RBI in two of his last three starts after collecting just 1RBI in his first eight games this season.
STRIKEOUT MACHINE: Yankees pitchers have recorded 277K this season, the third-most in the Majors (Minnesota and Chicago-AL-285K).
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: INF Anthony Volpe is batting .318/.400/.409 (7-for-22) with 3R, 2 doubles, 4RBI and 3BB over his last six starts.
Has reached base in 15 of his last 17 starts (since 4/12).
Has reached base multiple times in eight of his last 15 starts (since 4/14).
HAWAIIAN PUNCH: INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa has hit safely in nine of his last 11 starts (since 4/10), batting .270 (10-for-37) with 2R, 2RBI, 2BB and 3SB in that span.
GETTING HIGGY WITH IT: C Kyle Higashioka has hit safely in six of his last seven games and has reached base in nine of his 12 games this season.
GLEYBER DAY: INF Gleyber Torres has reached base safely in eight of his last 10 games.
Including the postseason, has batted .318/.390/.536 (35-for-110) with 22R, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6HR, 19RBI, 12BB and 1HP in 31 career games vs. the Guardians.
LEMACHINE: INF DJ LeMahieu has batted .321 (35- for-109) with 16R, 6 doubles, 4HR, 12RBI, 7BB and 1SB in 28 career regular season games vs. Cleveland…has hit safely in 22-of-26 regular season starts against the Guardians.
Has hit .368/.409/.474 (7-for-19) with 2 doubles, 8RBI, 2BB and 1SF with RISP this season.
FAN-TASTIC: The Yankees have averaged 39,559 fans per home game this season, the highest home average attendance in the American League and the third-highest in the Majors, trailing only Los Angeles-NL (49,482) and St. Louis (39,881).
The Yankees’ past series at Globe Life Field drew 146,771 fans, setting a new single-series paid attendance record at the venue (previous: 133,347 in Texas’ four-game series from 10/3-5/22 vs. the Yankees).
CLOCKWORK: The Yankees’ average time this season has been 2 hours and 34 minutes…only three of the Yankees’ 29 games this season have exceeded three hours and one of those games went into extra innings.
The Yankees’ 26 games that have been under three hours are their most such games through their first 29 games in a season since 1983 when they recorded 27 such games.
BIGGER THAN BASEBALL: Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees will honor five MTA employees who were involved in the rescue of a three-year-old boy who had gotten onto the train tracks near the Tarrytown station last month…the group will be on the field for batting practice and participate in a pregame ceremony.
CENTRAL PERK: Since 2022, the Yankees are 30-13 (.698) vs. the AL Central…are 41-17 in their last 58 games vs. the division (since 6/23/21) and 54-23 in their last 77G (since 9/12/19).
Have won or split 21 of their last 25 series vs. the AL Central (going 20-4-1 since 9/10/19), 24 of their last 28 series (going 21-4-3 since 6/13/19) and 27 of their last 32 series (going 24-5-3 since 4/18/19).
FOR STARTERS: RHP Domingo Germán will make his sixth start of the season tonight…has held opponents to a .198 BA (19-for-96) this season…has allowed 2BBor-fewer in four of his five starts…has recorded at least 8K in three of his five starts this season, posting an 11.42 K/9.0IP (33K/26.0IP).
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP DOMINGO GERMÁN (2-2, 5.54 ERA) rest…earned his second win of the season last Wednesday at Minnesota despite allowing a season-high 6ER in 6.0IP (5H, 2BB, 8K, 1HP, 3HR)…recorded at least 8K for a third time this season…marked his most ER allowed in a game since 6/13/21 at Philadelphia (7ER)…has allowed 1BB-or-fewer in 10 of his last 16 starts (since 8/6/22 at St. Louis), including 2BB-or-fewer in 14 of those starts…in 2022, went 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA (72.1IP, 65H, 31R/29ER, 19BB, 58K, 11HR) in 15 games (14 starts) with the Yankees…allowed 3R-or-fewer in a career-high 12 consecutive starts from 7/27-9/30/22…missed the first 93 games of the season with right shoulder impingement syndrome…in six seasons with the Yankees, is 28-23 with a 4.44 ERA (439.2IP, 217ER) and 462K in 97 career games (75 starts)…was signed by the Yankees as a minor league free agent on 12/11/15…was originally acquired by the Yankees from the Miami Marlins along with RHP Nathan Eovaldi and INF Garrett Jones in exchange for RHP David Phelps and INF Martín Prado on 12/19/14.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his second win of the season last Wednesday at Minnesota despite allowing a season-high 6ER in 6.0IP (5H, 2BB, 8K, 1HP, 3HR)…recorded at least 8K for a third time this season…marked his most ER allowed in a game since 6/13/21 at Philadelphia (7ER)…surrendered a solo HR to Jose Miranda in the second inning, a two-run HR to Miranda in the fourth and a two-run HR to Joey Gallo in the sixth…his 3HR allowed marked a season-high and were his most allowed in a game since 7/23/19 at Minnesota (also 3HR)…were tied for his second-most HR allowed in a game, trailing only his 4HR allowed on 5/26/19 at Kansas City.
VS. CLEVELAND: Has made five career starts against Cleveland, going 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA (25.0IP, 13ER) and 27K…last faced the Guardians earlier this season on 4/10 at Progressive Field and did not record a decision after allowing 2R/1ER over 3.0IP (2H, 5BB, 0K)… his 5BB allowed tied a career high (also 5BB on 4/1/19 vs. Detroit).
Has recorded 6K-or-more in four of his five career starts against Cleveland.
Made his first career Major League start vs. Cleveland at Yankee Stadium on 5/6/18 and did not allow a hit or run in 6.0IP (2BB, 9K)…retired his first 11 batters faced before walking José Ramírez with two outs in the fourth inning…overall, retired 18-of-20 batters and did not record a decision, exiting the game tied at 0-0…was the fourth Yankee ever to record at least 9K in his first career start, joining Hideki Irabu (9K in 6.2IP on 7/10/1997 vs. Detroit), Dan Tripple (10K in 9.0IP on 9/25/1915-G2 vs. Cleveland) and Russ Ford (9K in 9.0IP on 4/21/1910 at Philadelphia-AL).
HOME SWEET HOME: Is 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA (17.0IP, 9ER) and 25K in three home starts this season…has held opposing hitters to a .190 batting average (12-for-63) at home this season.
Has gone 13-10 with a 3.92 ERA (211.1IP, 163H, 97R/92ER, 72BB, 239K, 42HR) in 47 career games (36 starts) at Yankee Stadium…has allowed 3ERor- fewer in 31 of his 36 home starts. Has held opponents to a .208 BA (163-for-785) at Yankee Stadium in his career, compared to a .252 BA (227-for-900) on the road.
Has surrendered 3R-or-fewer in 10 of his last 12 starts at home (since 6/30/21 vs. Los Angeles-AL), including six starts with 2R-or-fewer allowed.
His 11 wins at Yankee Stadium since 2019 are tied with Nestor Cortes and Masahiro Tanaka for the third-most wins by any pitcher at the venue during that span, trailing only Gerrit Cole (18) and Jameson Taillon (12).
2023: Will make his sixth start of the season…is 2-2 with a 5.54 ERA (26.0IP, 16ER) and 33K in five starts this season…has recorded at least 8K in three starts…has recorded at least 8K with 0BB in two starts.
His 33K are the most strikeouts he’s recorded through his first five starts of a season in his career.
Allowed 1ER-or-fewer in back-to-back starts on 4/10 at Cleveland and 4/15 vs. Minnesota, tying the longest such streak of his career…marked the sixth time in his career he’s recorded consecutive such starts.
Earned his first win of the season on 4/15 vs. Minnesota after recording a career-high 11K (6.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB)…marked his third career double-digit strikeout game (also 10K on 7/25/21 at Boston and 6/14/18 vs. Tampa Bay)…marked the first time in his career he’s recorded at least 10K without surrendering a walk…marked his fifth career start with at least 8K and 0BB allowed, including his second this season (8K and 0BB on 4/4 vs. Philadelphia)……is the first Yankee to record at least 10K and 0BB in a game this season and the first since Gerrit Cole did so on 7/17/22 vs. Boston (12K and 0BB)…tossed 5.1 perfect innings before allowing a one-out single to Christian Vázquez in the sixth inning…his 11K matched the most by a Yankees pitcher this season (also Gerrit Cole on Opening Day vs. San Francisco)
Did not record a decision on 4/10 at Cleveland after allowing 2R/1ER over 3.0IP (2H, 5BB, 0K)…his 5BB allowed tied a career high (also 5BB on 4/1/19 vs. Detroit)…also marked his first career start with 0K.
Made his season debut on 4/4 vs. Philadelphia and took the loss, allowing 4ER over 4.2IP (4H, 0BB, 8K, 2HR)…his 8K were his most in a game since recording 10K on 7/25/21 at Boston.
