News and Notes: Guardians Beat Bad Baseball Team Again
News and Notes for Saturday, March 30th, 2024
The Guardians defeated the Oakland Athletics 6-4 Friday night, behind second baseman Andres Gimenez going 3 for 3 with two doubles and two walks. Every hitter in the lineup got at least one hit or one walk, including a home run for Jose Ramirez
Missed these, bro.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/nSl1EKLSm4
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 30, 2024
and additional doubles for Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan. Will Brennan got a big two-out RBI single:
Slick Willy with the RBI single! @CleGuardians up 5-1 in the 5th inning. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/J7rKnhW8dg
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) March 30, 2024
And Brayan Rocchio made an excellent play at shortstop:
Certified Glover Boy.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/nEGR3SOMWK
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 30, 2024
He also probably should have got to a ball in the ninth that he didn’t, and I still think he would be preferable at second base with Gimenez at short, but what do I know? He shows flashes of brilliance but there are some routine plays where I wish he looked a little more reliable. But, he’s still a very young player.
Eli Morgan, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase looked good in scoreless innings of relief, and Scott Barlow escaped an inning only giving up one run after walking two and throwing a wild pitch. Starter Logan Allen gave up six hits including two home runs, but didn’t walk anyone in five innings and after the game talked about how the team loves each other:
"We got a lot of guys that love each other."
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) March 30, 2024
Early season vibes are strong with this crew. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/6gSl8Q8y2h
You need to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat to be a good baseball team, so the Guardians have started off in the right direction, there. As always, it’s not until around Memorial Day that we can start drawing conclusions about what kind of team this will be, but I’m just enjoying these wins in Oakland.
MLB Researcher Sarah Lang pointed out an unusual fact about Jose Ramirez’s homer:
this pitch was .97 feet from the center of the plate, the furthest-outside pitch José Ramírez has homered off of in his career https://t.co/nZkVLuSWk2
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 30, 2024
In case you missed it, the Columbus Clippers announced their Opening Day roster and we have a preview. The Akron Rubber Ducks announced their roster also and we will have another preview publishing shortly thanks to writer Brian Hemminger. Unfortunately, we discovered the Joey Cantillo will be sidelined for a bit, but at least it’s not an arm injury:
Guardians pitching prospect Joey Cantillo will miss 8-10 weeks with a strained hamstring.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 29, 2024
The Mets and Brewers had a fun little brouhaha yesterday.
The Guardians will play at a more reasonable 4:07 PM EST today, with Tanner Bibee facing off against LHP J.P. Sears.