News and Notes - Rain, Pain, and “Meaningless” Baseball Games

The Guardians fall to the Houston Astros 5-2.

Joey Cantillo did not deserve this loss. Alas, that is sometimes how the cruel world of baseball works though. Cantillo took the mound Friday night to kick off the last series of the regular season for the Cleveland Guardians. He threw 3.2 innings, allowing 6 hits and walking 2. As Cleveland was getting slammed with the remnants of hurricane Helene, the Guards found themselves struggling quite a bit defensively. Shortstop Daniel Schneemann and second baseman Andrés Giménez both dropping and misplaying the ball which allowed runners to reach. Cantillo threw two wild pitches, one of which scored a run. Cantillo gave up 3 runs, but in his short appearance, he still struck out 7 batters.

Eli Morgan came in to the game with two outs in the 4th. Eli pitched 0.2 innings in which he unfortunately allowed two solo home runs. Residential innings eater Pedro Avila only had a light snack today. He pitched 1.2 innings, allowing 1 hit and walking 1. He struck out 2. Nick Sandlin pitched the 7th inning and looked pretty solid against the Astros offense. Sandlin pitched 1.2 innings, allowing 4 hits but remaining scoreless. Erik Sabrowski finished the game for the Guards, rounding out the 8th inning and pitching the 9th. Sabrowski walked 1 batter and struck out 3. He is making quite the bid for the playoff roster.

The Cleveland offense was struggling just as much as the defense. José Ramírez came real close to double number 39 in the bottom of the fourth, but the wind was not conducive to productive at bats. Everything was blowing back into the park and what should have been a double, or even a triple, ended up being a fly out to center. Going into the bottom of the 5th the team was being no-hit. Thankfully Will Brennan broke that up with a two out single to center. In the bottom of the 6th, José Ramírez was maybe 8 inches away from having home run number 39. The wind tunnels were switched into reverse mode and the should have been home run resulted in a fly out on the warning track to right.

In the bottom of the 9th, the team started digging in to rally. Josh Naylor lead off with a walk and was advanced to 2nd on a Lane Thomas single. David Fry pinch hit for Giménez. With an 0-2 count, Fry doubled to left field, scoring Josh Naylor. Vogt turned to Jhonkensy Noel to pinch hit for Will Brennan, but Big Christmas struck out after swinging at one well below the zone and another in the dirt. The merry-go-round continued with Angel Martínez pinch hitting for Bo Naylor. His ground out to second base would score Lane Thomas. Brayan Rocchio wouldn’t be left out as he was brought in to pinch hit for Daniel Schneemann. Rocchio hit a fly ball to center for the final out of the game.

Its a weird feeling seeing a loss that, at any other point in the season, would have otherwise left me in a foul mood. When the team has clinched the playoffs, the division, and the ALDS bye - I can’t bring myself to be too upset. Nor do I find myself concerned, despite the twitch I develop in my right eye when the words “rain” and “playoffs” are spoken too closely together. I think this team should still feel relatively confident, the conditions were not ideal for this sport and the misfortune and bad luck could have just as easily fell on the Astros last night. Every opponent between now and wherever this team ends is going to be a battle. If this teams knows how to do anything, it is how to battle.

The Yankees lost to the Pirates. The #1 seed is still on the table.

The American League playoffs are set. After last night’s games, the Tigers and Royals clinch their spot in the Wild Card race. The Twins have officially been eliminated.

With the Tigers’ victory, the Chicago White Sox have officially made history. 121 losses in a single season.