Logan Allen stepped up on Friday to deliver six strong innings against the Seattle Mariners after giving up four runs in the first inning, allowing his Cleveland Guardians to settle in and pick up their most important win of the season, 5-4 on a walkoff sacrifice fly from Steven Kwan.
The Guardians are chasing the Mariners for the final American League Wild Card spot.
It all started with Allen on Friday, who recently revealed in an article from Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com that the recent adjustment to his mechanics has been a big help for him.
“In tracking with the data, it seems my numbers suggest I do a little bit better pitching out of the stretch,” said Allen. “I’m trying to eliminate having the leadoff hitter get on base. It’s just something to help me get a little deeper into games.”
After the bad first inning on Friday, Allen retired five of the next six leadoff hitters to help him get through six innings.
Allen’s ERA has ballooned to 4.42 over the past couple of starts, but hopefully, the adjustments he has made recently will pay off in the long run as he continues to get more comfortable with them.
The 26-year-old needs to continue stepping up down the stretch to continue to ease the losses of Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, who both are out for the year due to alleged gambling infractions.
It’s great to hear Allen is so locked in on the advanced metrics and finding creative ways to get better, and it paid off in the team’s biggest win of the season on Friday.
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