Cleveland Guardians walked this way against the New York Yankees and 4 other things

The Cleveland Guardians defeated the New York Yankees in Game 1 of their home series.

The Cleveland Guardians opened up their home series against the New York Yankees with a nail-biting 3-2 win, where Shane Bieber, James Karinchack, and Emmanuel Clase contributed to the win, with each man earning a win, a hold and a save respectively. They needed the near-perfect pitching, as the Guardians only mustered four hits in the game.

Three of which were from Mike Zunino. That doesn’t mean the Guards didn’t have baserunners, however, as the club walked nine times against the Yankees pitchers. Steven Kwan, Amed Rosario, and Andres Gimenez all had multiple walks on the day, and Kwan and Gimenez ended up turning one of those free trips to first into a run for the Guardians.

Zunino hit a double that gave him an RBI, while Will Brennan and Josh Naylor were able to hit the ball deep enough for a pair of sacrifice flies between the two of them. So what were five other things we noticed during the 3-2 win over the Yankees?

Five things we noticed in the Cleveland Guardians’ win over the New York Yankees

Cleveland Guardians rack up nine walks

The Guardians racking up nine walks is incredible and shouldn’t be dismissed so eagerly. The club thrived last year due to their patience at the plate, and it’s good to see that’s still the case going forward.

Mike Zunino is feast or famine

In the eight games that Mike Zunino has played for the Guardians, he’s gone without a hit in half of those games. Even more shocking, of his eight hits, only two have been singles. Five others have been doubles and a sixth has been a home run. He has a .640 slugging, and a 1.073 OPS.

Myles Straw should be moved up in the lineup some

Myles Straw is on a 10-game-hitting streak and has been on base 22 times in this young season. In a few more weeks, if Straw keeps playing as well as he is, and Amed Rosario keeps playing as poorly as he is, a switch may need to happen.

Shane Bieber has the stamina but not the stuff so far

Shane Bieber isn’t having a bad start to his season, but his strikeouts are way low. He’s only registered 14 through 19.00 IP. That’s not very like him, and something I’d keep an eye on.

Cleveland Guardians are first in the AL Central

The Cleveland Guardians are officially in first place in the American League Central. So their quest to win the first of three potential championships is well underway.