Series Review: Guardians take 2 against Orioles with second consecutive series win

The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Baltimore Orioles two games to one.

The Cleveland Guardians have been putting in the work recently and have upped their record from 19-24 last week after the Detroit Tigers series, to now being 24-25 on the year. The Guards are starting to put it all together, getting three great starts from Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Zach Plesac throughout the series and a solid offensive outing by the crew.

The big noticeable difference as of late has been the much-improved play of the defense, highlighting that in Game 3, when the Guards, thanks in part to Owen Miller, pulled off a double-play to help get them out of a slight pickle.

This isn’t that surprising, and it was almost expected. The Guardians had a very young team coming out of a shortened spring training, so pitching would be iffy, the offense would be a bit inconsistent and guys at new positions would take time to settle in. Coupled that with the fact that since arriving in Cleveland, Terry Francona’s teams usually start slow.

The Guards are back in Cleveland for the next week, first to start a series with the Texas Rangers on Monday, and then on Thursday starting a four-game series against the Oakland A’s.

Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles series recap

Game 1 – Guardians Win (6-3)

Shane Bieber was his old, dominant self against the Orioles and has finally started looking like his old self with an 11 strikeout day. Owen Miller had a massive four-RBI game, which helped seal the win for Game 1 of the series.

Game 2 – Orioles Win (5-4)

The Guardians’ offense was able to score four runs in a game where Triston McKenzie was pitching, which usually should be enough to win, but the young hurler gave up three home runs on the day, which is how Baltimore did their damage.

Game 3 – Guardians Win (3-2)

Zach Plesac locked the Orioles down for six innings, only giving up two runs thanks to a home run. For as much bluster as the Camden Yards’ stadium renovations have gotten, there were quite a few home run balls this weekend.

Series Standout

Owen Miller

3-10, 4 RBIs, 2 Walks, 2 Runs

Josh Naylor

2-8, 2 RBIs

Oscar Gonzalez

4-11, 1 Run, 1 Walk

Shane Bieber

7.0 IP, 3 Hs, 2 ER, 2 BBs, 11k’s

Zach Plesac

6.0, 4 Hs, 2 ER, 8 Ks

Emmanuel Clase

2.0 IP, 3Ks, 2 Saves