Awful officiating and 3 other things from the Cleveland Guardians home opener

The Cleveland Guardians had a rough go of it on Friday thanks to some really poor officiating.

We’re not ones to pass the blame to umpires or referees when a team loses, but the inconsistency from umpire Nate Tomlinson was too egregious to not mention. The inconsistent strike zone that Tomlinson kept outright cost the Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Aaron Civale several runs, which threw the team out of synch for the day.

The offense only mustered seven hits and three runs, but not every night is going to be a baker’s dozen type of game. Sometimes you’re only going to muster a few runs and in those games, you need the umpire calling fair and accurate balls and strikes.

That wasn’t the cast in the Guardians home opening loss on Friday, which saw the good guys fall 5-3 to the Seattle Mariners.

Four things from the Cleveland Guardians’ loss to the Seattle Mariners

A bad umpire

Watching Nate Tomlinson tank as hard as he did on Friday was rough, especially since he’s not known to be a bad umpire. The Mariners benefited from his erratic (at best) strike zone, and due to that, they were able to get some easy runs they truly didn’t earn.

Travis Kelce can’t throw

Travis Kelce threw out the first pitch, or well, he tried to anyway. The Cleveland Heights native is one-half of a Super Bowl-winning pair of brothers, with Travis playing and winning two titles with the Kansas City Chiefs, while his older brother Jason with the Philadelphia Eagles. Both are likely Hall of Fame-bound, and neither is a quarterback and for the Chiefs, that’s a good thing. Travis bounced his first pitch right into the grass and nearly took out Shane Bieber and Slider in the process. And yes, his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had a good laugh at the tight end’s inability to throw.

Cleveland Guardians honor superfan John Adams

Before the game, the Guardians honored long-time superfan and iconic drummer, John Adams. Adams passed away in January of 2023 and is most well known for spending 40-odd years pounding away on his drum in the bleachers of Progressive Field.

They played a lovely video package for Adams, but they also wore patches on the day that said “JA”, in honor of the beloved fan.

Josh Naylor is very good at this hitting thing

While the Guardians lost, Josh Naylor was the only player on the day to register two hits. It’s yet another sign that Naylor is heading into a breakout year.