The Cleveland Guardians have paced the AL Central all season and are starting to put some separation between themselves and their competition, and none of this would be possible without the leadership of manager Stephen Vogt.
He is getting strong performances out of some unlikely sources on this roster, and Vogt was impressed with one veteran’s strong outing in last night’s 7-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bally Sports Cleveland shared a clip of Vogt’s postgame press conference after the win, and Vogt had a lot of nice things to say about veteran starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s six-inning, one-run outing, saying that “since he’s come off the IL his stuff has been up, tonight was the first night he put the command with having everything” before adding “that was as good as we’ve seen Cookie all year.”
"Tonight was the first night he put the command with having everything."
Stephen Vogt praises Cookie for his outing tonight, and says this win was a big one for everyone in the clubhouse. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/fKCDlAH5HO
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) June 22, 2024
Carrasco has had a rough go of it this season and is likely now pitching to hold onto his spot in the rotation with Gavin Williams’ return just around the corner, and he put together arguably his best outing of the season by surrendering just four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts over the six dominant frames.
His Guardians spotted him seven runs in the second inning, and it proved to be more than enough as Carrasco made that lead hold up throughout the evening.
It was Carrasco’s third quality start of the season, all of which have come over his last seven outings, so it’s possible Carrasco is beginning to put his early-season struggles behind him and find a bit of a groove.
NEXT: Fans React To Guardians' 3rd Straight Win
