The Cleveland Guardians wrapped up their opening series with a tough showing on Sunday, falling 8-0 to the Seattle Mariners in a game where very little went right offensively.
Cleveland ran into a dominant pitching performance and a few costly defensive moments that quickly turned the game out of reach.
The biggest issue was at the plate.
The Guardians managed just two hits the entire game and were held scoreless from start to finish. They struggled to string together quality at-bats against Seattle’s pitching staff. It marked one of their quietest offensive performances in recent memory and highlighted early concerns about their offense again this season.
Even rising star Chase DeLauter, who has been red hot to begin his career, was limited to a single hit as the lineup never found a rhythm.
On the mound, Slade Cecconi battled but ran into trouble in the middle innings. He allowed six runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings, with one big inning doing most of the damage. Despite recording five strikeouts, walks and defensive miscues extended innings and allowed Seattle to break the game open.
One of those moments came in the outfield, where CJ Kayfus, playing a relatively new position in left field, had difficulty tracking a key ball that helped spark a big inning for the Mariners.
Kayfus addressed the play after the game.
“What the fans and you guys don’t understand is that I’m playing 15 steps in the gap and it’s a long run,” Kayfus said. “I don’t mean to make excuses, but I try to do my absolute best.”
Manager Stephen Vogt also defended his young outfielder.
“CJ was in the right position,” Vogt said. “They just hit a couple of balls down the line. It’s a relatively new position for CJ.”
Vogt also pointed to the fourth inning as the turning point, when the Guardians allowed the inning to extend and Seattle capitalized in a big way.
Despite the lopsided loss, Cleveland still managed to split the four-game series, which offers at least a small positive as they head into the next stretch of the season.
“We would have loved to have won the series, but we’re coming away with a split and we feel pretty good,” Vogt said. “We had a couple of misplays today, but I feel we’re playing good baseball.”
The Guardians now turn their attention to their next series, hoping to quickly bounce back and rediscover the offense that has shown flashes early in the year.
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