The pitching fails the Cleveland Guardians as the Yankees leave victorious

The Cleveland Guardians couldn’t take the series from the New York Yankees.

The Cleveland Guardians fell to one game over .500 as the New York Yankees left Progressive Field on Wednesday afternoon with a 2-1 series win. The Guardians fall to 7-6 on the season and are now 1.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the AL Central title.

The series with the Yankees will be marred by a lineup that’s fast asleep, and a crop of poorly placed balls by the pitching staff. None were as egregious as Hunter Gaddis, who may have proven he’s not yet ready for a long stay in the Majors after giving up eight runs in three innings.

The bullpen was fine, but Trevor Stephan and Emmanuel Clase choked away a one-run lead, and then the eventual game during the 7th and 9th inning respectively.

It’s a rough series, as the Guardians could have easily won it, but they’re going to have a tough time out-hitting the Yankees if three of their best bats (Amed Rosario, Josh Naylor, and Josh Bell) fail to hit. If it wasn’t for Mike Zunino, this team may have been swept by the Yankees.

Series Recap

Game 1 (CLE 3, NYY 2)

The Cleveland Guardians were able to fend off the Yankees in a low-hitting affair in Game 1. The two high-powered offenses only mustered d10 runs between them and the Guardians were able to take the win by working counts and getting walks. Mike Zunino’s three doubles didn’t hurt either.

Game 2 (CLE 2, NYY 11)

Hunter Gaddis did not have a good outing. The youngster gave up eight runs on eight hits and walked two in just three innings of baseball. The offense didn’t do much either, as both Josh Naylor and Josh Bell have hit rough (and very rough) patches in their season.

Game 3 (CLE 3, NYY 4)

Amed Rosario, Naylor, and Bell all had hits in the game, but no one in the lineup had two, and the offense only mustered three runs. Still, the team had the lead until Trevor Stephan blew it in the seventh. Emmanuel Clase would then give up what would be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth.

Series Standouts

Steven Kwan

2-10, 3 Runs, 4 Walks

Josh Naylor

1-9, 3 RBI, 1 Walk

Mike Zunino

3-4, 1 RBI, 2 Walks (3 doubles)

James Karinchak

2.0 IP, 1 Hold, 3Ks