Series Review: Guardians remind White Sox who’s at the top with series sweep

The Cleveland Guardians reminded the Chicago White Sox who’s at the top after series sweep.

The Cleveland Guardians couldn’t be held down for long. After suffering a sweep of their own at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, the Guards got their own against the Chicago White Sox. The weather wasn’t great, forcing one game to be postponed until later in the season, and forcing the second to be part of a double-header. So while the series went from four games to three, a sweep’s a sweep.

The Guardians are now 7-5 on the year and are leading the Majors in run scored.

The Guardias’ offense was off and popping with 30 hits across the series, and a total of 19 runs. Granted, 11 hits and 11 runs came in Game 1, but still. That’s a strong sign this offense is much improved from the previous season.

Currently, the inclusions of Myles Straw for a full season, Steven Kwan, and a returning Josh Naylor have made the offense much more consistent, as have leaps of improvement from Ernie Clement and Owen Miller.

Should this continue throughout the year, the Guards will prove once again that over-paying for free agents is not the way to build a consistent competitor.

The Guardians remind the White Sox who’s the top in the division

Game 1 –Guardians W (11-1)

Josh Naylor and Oscar Mercado both had two hits, and the Guardians went 1-9 in a single inning. Jose Ramirez hit his fourth home run, and second grand slam of the season. Shane Bieber looked good, going 6.0 innings and striking out seven, while only giving up four hits, and one earned run.

Game 2 –Guardians W (2-1)

It was a story of pitching as Triston McKenzie and Anthony Gose combined to go 6.0 innings and striking out eight, while the rest of the bullpen helped close the door. Gose got his first win of the year. The offense sputtered with Bobby Bradley going 0-4 with two strikeouts while filling in for Owen Miller (out with COVID). Jose Ramirez and Oscar Mercado both hit RBIs.

Game 3 –Guardians W (6-3)

Franmil Reyes finally hit his first home run of the season, driving in one, and knocking in a second later on in the game. Steven Kwan had a hit, a walk, two runs, and an RBI. Jose Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 11 games to start the season, and 15 games dating back to last year. Zach Plesac gave the bullpen a half-day, going 6.2 but he did give up seven hits.

Top Performers

Jose Ramirez

4-12, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 Walk (15 game hitting streak)

Myles Straw

3-11, 1 RBI, 3 Runs, 1 Walk

Josh Naylor

4-8, 3 RBI, 1 Run

Steven Kwan

3-8, 2 RBI, 3 Runs, 1 Walk

Emmanuel Clase

2.0 IP, 0 HIts, 0 Walks, 0 ER

Shane Bieber

7.0 IP, 7Ks, 4 Hits, 1 ER