The Cleveland Guardians got off to a very good start in their high-stakes series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. They received a reliably stellar performance from starting pitcher Parker Messick, and their offense made a surprising contribution, highlighted by Angel Martinez’s grand slam.
The Guardians closed within two games of the White Sox for first place in the AL Central, with two more games to go against them this weekend. Cleveland will then travel to take on the surging Detroit Tigers in a four-game series.
Insider Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com revealed the reasons to have hope for the Guardians in this pennant race, saying they will be able to lean on a strong pitching staff and some key players in their lineup.
“The Guardians have a golden arm rotation with Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo, Messick and Foster Griffin. Cade Smith is an All-Star closer, although the bullpen needs more depth. Steven Kwan is batting exactly .400 (.940 OPS) since July 1. Chase DeLauter just hits and hits. The talent is there to prevail in the Central Division,” Pluto wrote.
With Messick’s latest performance, Williams on a historic roll, and Griffin joining the rotation as a trade deadline acquisition, no team in the division can match the depth of Cleveland’s starting rotation. Add to that the presence of Smith, who is second in the majors in saves, and the Guardians should continue to be in almost every game they play.
It had not been paying off lately, as the Guardians were swept by the lowly New York Mets in their previous series, with Smith blowing a save in the second game and the pitching staff collapsing in the finale. Cleveland had lost five of six and was 6-13 since the All-Star break before its victory on Friday.
That cold stretch was despite a resurgence by Kwan, who leads the majors in batting average since July 1 and homered against the White Sox in the series opener. In addition, DeLauter is batting over .300 in that time as he continues his excellent rookie season.
As the two-time defending AL Central winners, it would be foolish to count out the Guardians, especially after their historic rally from 11 games behind in September last season to win the division. But it would help immensely if they can make up some ground in this challenging stretch over the next week.
With Williams on the mound in Chicago on Saturday, Cleveland has a very good chance to take another step in that direction.
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