CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS WIN ST. LOUIS SERIES VIA RAMÍREZ WALK-OFF
The Guardians posted their second walk-off win of 2023, as JOSÉ RAMÍREZ drilled a 2-out, 2-run double off Ryan Helsley in the bottom of the 9th to cap a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field…series win over St. Louis marked the club’s first since May 12-14 vs. LAA… club finished 3-3 on 6-game homestand vs. Chicago-AL (1-2) & St. Louis (2-1)…Cleveland has won 5 of 8 and 8 of last 14 home games (12-15 overall).
JOSH BELL singled home STEVEN KWAN (lead-off single) in the 1st inning to give an early 1-0 lift to starter HUNTER GADDIS (4.2IP, 5H, 3R-ER, 2BB, 3SO, 3HR, HB, 76 pitches), who permitted exactly one baserunner in each of his first 4.0 [scoreless] frames before surrendering a trio of solo homers in the 5th to Alex Burleson (4), Andrew Knizner (4) and Paul Goldschmidt (10)…MIKE ZUNINO led off the 5th with a single, took 2nd on a wild pitch by Cards southpaw Jordan Montgomery (5.0IP, 7H, 2R-ER, BB, 3SO, WP, 91 pitches) and scored on Kwan’s RBI-double to cut the deficit to 3-2… in the decisive 9th, MYLES STRAW and Kwan drew a pair of one- out walks to set the table for Ramirez, who laced a 1-0, 100mph fastball from Helsley into the RCF gap to close the curtains.
Cleveland (23-29) sits in 3rd place in AL Central standings, 3.5 games behind 1st-place Minnesota (27-26) and 2.5 games behind 2nd-place Detroit (-1.0G, 25-26)…Guardians have dropped 23 of last 37 overall since starting year 9-6…club went 3-3 on 6-game homestand vs. Chicago-AL (1-2) & St. Louis (2-1), having won 5 of 8 and 8 of last 14 at home (12-15 overall)…set to begin a 7-game road trip through Baltimore (3G) & Minnesota (4G); club has dropped 3 straight and 9 of last 11 road games (11-14 overall).
BIRDBATH IN BALTIMORE
Cleveland faces a bird-named club for the second straight series as they play a 3-game set against the Orioles to begin a 7-game road trip…the two clubs will square off again in Cleveland from September 21-24 for a 4-game set…the Guards have won or tied each of the last 5 season series against the Orioles, going 3-3 last season with 2 wins taking place in Baltimore…under Terry Francona, the Guardians hold a 33-27 record against the O’s since 2013, with a +15 run differential…Cleveland has a 546-462 (.542) all-time road record against Baltimore, holding the 2nd-highest win percentage among AL teams behind New York-AL (635-494, .562)…Cleveland leads the all-time series (including games against Milwaukee in 1901 and St. Louis from 1902-1953) 1,148-871 (.569) with a +1,206 run differential, the 2nd-highest of any MLB team against Baltimore, behind the Yankees (+2,147)…Cleveland’s .569 win percentage against the Orioles is its highest against any team (min. 200GP) and its 1,148 are 2nd-most against any opponent, trailing Minnesota (1,185).
MEMORIAL DAY MEMO
Cleveland is set to play its 174th Memorial Day/Decoration Day contest in franchise history today…the club holds an 80-93-1 record in games played on the holiday, winning 4 of its last 6 Memorial Day contests…this is Cleveland’s 27th Memorial Day game against the Baltimore franchise, holding a 14-11-1 record against them… the last time Cleveland and Baltimore squared off on Memorial Day was 1991 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore with Cleveland winning 3-2…from 1905-1949, Cleveland faced the franchise 17 times on the holiday when they were named the St. Louis Browns, going 9-7-1…from 1962-1991, Cleveland has faced the Baltimore Orioles 9 times on Memorial Day, holding a 5-4 record…both teams have scored a total of 84 runs against one another on Memorial Day.
THE GUARDIAC KIDS
Following yesterday’s 4-3 walk-off win, the Guardians lead MLB with 25 one-run games out of their 52 games played this season, owning an 11-14 record in such contests…the Guards 11 victories rank T2nd in MLB behind Miami’s 15 such wins…they have 5 different streaks of 3+ consecutive one-run games in 2023, 2 more than any other MLB club…Cleveland’s 25 one-run contests are the club’s 3rd-most through the first 52 games of a season and the most since 1918 when they went 14-12 over 26 one-run contests… the Guardians are the first MLB team with 25 one-run contests in their first 52 games since the 2015 Chicago Cubs (15-10, .600) and the first AL team since the 1993 Kansas City Royals (18-8, .692). » The Guards also lead MLB this season with 36 games decided by 2-runs-or-less, holding an 18-18 record…Cleveland has the most games decided by 2-runs-or-less in the first 52 games of a season since the 2015 Seattle Mariners (17-19)…the Guardians 36 contests decided by 2-runs-or-less are the most through the first 52 games of a season in franchise history.
MOST CLE 2-RUNS-OR-LESS GAMES IN FIRST 52G YEAR COUNT RECORD
(W%) 2023 36 18-18 (.500) 1910 35 18-12-5 (.586) 1943 35 18-17 (.514) 1944 34 17-17 (.500)
RAMÍREZ RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS
After his walk-off double in yesterday’s game, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ enters today tied with Nap Lajoie (535) for 6th-most extra-base hits in club history…since 2018, Ramírez leads all MLB hitters with 346 extra-base hits…he has 198 career home runs as a Clevelander, and is 3 homers away from passing Travis Hafner (200) for 9th- most in franchise history.
DOWN ON THE FARM
AARON CIVALE (4.2IP, 6H, 4R/ER, 3BB, 7SO, 88P/54S) made his 3rd rehab start for Columbus yesterday…in 3 outings for Columbus, he has thrown 11.0 combined innings and 16 strikeouts while allowing 6 runs (earned) and 4 walks…CODY MORRIS (1.2IP, 0H/R/ER, 1BB, 1SO, 29P/19S) made his 2nd rehab start for Akron last night…in 2 rehab outings, he has tossed 2.2 combined hitless/ scoreless innings with a walk and 2 strikeouts…TIM HERRIN tallied a MiLB-high 3 wins this past week for Columbus, throwing a combined 5.0 innings and 4 strikeouts, while allowing 2 hits and a walk in 3 outings…Lake County reliever TYLER THORNTON leads MiLB (min. 6.0IP) with a 20.40 SO/9 (34SO/15.0IP) this season… Lynchburg reliever TOMAS REYES ranks 2nd in MiLB this season (min. 8.0IP) with 1.13 H/9 (1H/8.0IP) and 3rd in MiLB (min. 25PA) with a .040 average against (1-for-25)…GAVIN WILLIAMS ranks T7th in MiLB with 62 strikeouts for Akron/Columbus, throwing 5+SO in 8 of his 9 starts this season…Akron closer CADE SMITH leads MiLB with 12 saves in 12 chances.
ZACK COLLINS is tied for MiLB lead with 50 games played, ranks T6th with 61 hits and is on a system-high 20-game on-base streak…Lynchburg/Lake County INF NATE FURMAN ranks T3rd In MiLB with 45 runs and 6th with 27 SB…Columbus INF BRAYAN ROCCHIO ranks 4th in MiLB with 17 doubles and T8th with 60 hits, including a 2-for-4, 3RBI game yesterday…Lynchburg OF GUY LIPSCOMB JR. ranks T3rd in MiLB with 31 SB.
TODAY’S STARTER – #41 LOGAN ALLEN LHP
ALLEN’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-2 3.31 6 6 32.2 38 13 12 9 33
Career 1-2 3.31 6 6 32.2 38 13 12 9 33
ALLEN ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-1 2.53 2 2 10.2 11 3 3 3 13
Career 0-1 2.53 2 2 10.2 11 3 3 3 13
TODAY’S START
The 24-year-old left-hander is making his seventh career MLB start, third on the road, in the opening contest of this 3-game set with the Baltimore Orioles…has started his MLB career with 6 straight starts of 3-or-fewer earned runs…looking to make consecutive quality starts for the first time in his career…he has two quality starts this season (4/23 vs. MIA and 5/23 vs. CWS)…is starting on 5 days of rest.
Allen was originally selected by Cleveland in the 2nd Round (56th overall) of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Florida International University…entered the season as Cleveland’s #8 prospect according to MLB.com…he is starting on four days of rest; had made on start on 4 days rest, allowing 3 runs (earned) over 6.0 innings.
LAST TIME OUT
He suffered his second loss of the season on Tuesday in a 4-2 defeat to the Chicago White Sox…after retiring 15 of his first 16 batters faced to start the game, Yasmani Grandal took him deep to left field with 2 outs in the 5th frame…the rookie left-hander came out for the 7th inning for the first time in his MLB career, but did not record an out after allowing the first 3 batters to reach base…the White Sox scored on a fielding error, then scored 3 more runs on a bases-clearing double from Romy Gonzalez…has yet to allow 4-or-more earned runs in any of his 6 starts to begin his career.
GETTING IN THE EARLY WORK
Through his first 6 starts, Allen has had success against the top half of the lineup, holding the first four hitters to a combined .224 (15-for-67) average with 17 total strikeouts and 3 RBI…for comparison, the last five hitters in the lineup have a .333 (23-for69) batting average with 18 strikeouts and 10 RBI…batters in the second spot of the lineup are 1-for-18 (.056) and cleanup hitters are 3-for-18 (.167) when facing the rookie…batters in the eighth and ninth spot are a combined 9-for-24 (.375) off the left-hander.
He has yet to allow a run in the first 2 innings this season and has allowed just one earned run in the 3rd inning, a combined 0.50 ERA (1ER/18.0IP)…is limiting opposing teams to a .137 clip (7-for51) the first time through the order…opposing clubs are .371 (19-for-51) when the facing the rookie a second time through the order and .353 (12-for-34) the third time through the lineup.
THE ALLEN WRENCH
After his performance on Tuesday against Chicago-AL, Allen became the 7th pitcher in franchise history to begin their career with 33+ strikeouts in their first 6 career starts…he joins Luis Tiant (35), SHANE BIEBER (36), TRISTON MCKENZIE (36), Danny Salazar (37) and Herb Score (57)…Allen also became the 6th pitcher in franchise history to begin their career with 6 straight starts of 3-or-fewer earned runs…only Jim Kern (6, 1974-75), Eric Raich (6, 1975), AARON CIVALE (9, 2019) and Cliff Lee (10, 2002-03) have streaks of 6-or-more games.
After striking out 8 in his start on April 30 at Boston, he became the 2nd pitcher in franchise history to record 8+ strikeouts in their first 2 starts (16SO, 11.0IP), last done by Herb Score (18SO, 17.0IP) in 1955…he is the 16th pitcher in MLB history to begin a career with 2 consecutive starts of 8+ strikeouts, last accomplished by Tampa Bay’s Taj Bradley earlier this season.
In his first career start, a 7-4 victory against the Marlins on April 23, Allen’s 8 strikeouts were the 4th-most in Cleveland franchise history for a Major League debut…the left-hander also became the third pitcher in franchise history to throw 6.0+ innings, record 8+ strikeouts and hold an opponent to one-or-zero runs in an MLB debut, the first since TRISTON MCKENZIE on August 22, 2020…Luis Tiant first accomplished the feat on July 19, 1964, in a complete game shutout.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
No release available.
