Guardians Vs Angels Series Recap

Revisit the Guardians 2-1 series win over the Los Angeles Angels with Adison Delp.

José Ramírez's 21-game hit streak would come to an end in game 1 of the 3-game series against the Angels on Friday, but what a dominant month for Cleveland's franchise 3rd baseman. J-Ram posted a .386 batting average in May, the best average of any player in the American League during that stretch to keep the Guardians in contention for the AL Central crown.

He is on track to have his best year since 2016 or 2017, while other players keeping Cleveland afloat include the extremely consistent Steven Kwan, Carlos Santana, who has also been hitting the ball at a high clip, and the emergence of Nolan Jones as a hitter. Because of players like these, the Guardians haven't experienced extended losing streaks or long offensive struggles this season, as they continue to be a perpetual contender under reigning AL Manager of the Year Stephen Vogt.

Although Cleveland won their series against the Angels 2 games to 1, it did not always appear as if this was going to happen. It took heroics from everyone mentioned and some great starting pitching in game 3 to pull off the series win. Let’s look at how the Guardians turned around what promised to be another disappointing series loss.

Game 1: Angels 4, Guardians 1

Luis Ortiz pitched 6 innings and despite only giving up one run, ended up taking the loss. After giving up a run in the second, he shut down the Angels for the final 4 innings he pitched. Despite this solid pitching performance, the Guardians simply could not create chances offensively.

The squad had trouble getting on base and gave up 3 double plays when they finally did get runners on the base paths. Los Angeles quickly added on 2 runs once relief pitching came in for the 7th inning for Cleveland, then tacked on a solo home run in the top of the 9th to pretty much seal the game.

Nolan Jones did provide an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout, but it was just not Cleveland's day.

Game 2: Guardians 7, Angels 5

Slade Cecconi was the starter for Cleveland in game 2 and ended up having a rough outing. He would only make it through 4 1/3 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. This is the first time this season he did not make it through at least 5 innings. Although he didn't allow many hits, he gave up 3 home runs, continuing his trouble of surrendering deep balls this season.

The first two innings of the game, however, were uneventful. Both pitchers looked good through two frames and it seemed like this might be a low-scoring contest. Cecconi got burned in the top of the 3rd inning by back-to-back solo shots to make the score 2-0 Angels.

The Guardians then had their best chance to score with bases loaded in the bottom half of the frame, but Carlos Santana grounded out to end the inning. In the fourth, Slade Cecconi gave up another home run, this one scoring 2 runs, extending LA's edge to 4-0.

At this point, Cleveland’s chances seemed low of generating momentum. They could have given up on the series or chalked it up to bad luck and a cold offensive outing. Instead, the bats started to come alive with veterans righting the ship. Who was the catalyst?

Nolan Jones, who has been on a tear recently and sparked the bottom half of Cleveland’s rotation recently.

After Gabriel Arias singled in the bottom of the fourth, Jones hit a “little league home

run”. This actually means he hit a triple and then made it home on a throwing error. Either way, he cut the lead in half, making the game 4-2.

In the fifth inning, the Angels added another run to make the score 5-2, giving Cleveland even more work to do if it hoped to come back. That’s when José Ramírez came to the plate.

After being intentionally walked his first 2 at-bats of the game, he was itching to swing at something. And swing he did! He blasted his 10th home run of the year, lowering the deficit back down to 2. Cleveland relievers then did their job by holding LA scoreless the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Cleveland kept chipping away at the lead.

Steven Kwan homered in the bottom of the 6th inning to put the Guardians within one run. Then in the 7th, Carlos Santana hit a game-tying dinger followed by a single from Daniel

Schneemann and Bo Naylor walked. Then Gabriel Arias hammered a double

that scored 2 runs to give Cleveland a 7-5 lead.

Another comeback for Cleveland!

Cade Smith pitched a scoreless 8th inning in front of the home fans setting up closer Emmanuel Clase who pitched a scoreless 9th to officially seal the win. This was another scrappy performance that has been dubbed 'Guards Ball' and has been key to Cleveland’s success the last couple of years.

Game 3: Guardians 4, Angels 2

The MVP of this game has to be Gavin Williams. zwith the start from the hill went 6 2/3 innings while giving up 0 earned runs and only allowing 1 hit. The Guardians got on the board in the third after Kwan hit a sacrifice fly to bring Gabriel Arias home. Then they took over in the fourth inning.

José Ramírez smacked another home run and Nolan Jones hit a 2-RBI single to make the lead 4-0. After that, the game slowed down again. No further action happened until the 7th when two Angels in a row hit RBI singles, though, LA could never build any more momentum off of that with Clase closing out the game by pitching another scoreless 9th.

The Guardians are one of the most fun teams to watch in my biased opinion because it feels like they are never out of a game. One hit or one good play can get them going in a hurry, and once they find momentum are a tough team to stop.

That’s exactly how Cleveland won this series. Their offense got hot at the right time and some good pitching sealed the deal. The Guardians will hope to maintain their good form as they now go on the road to play The New York Yankees, who have the second-best record in the American League.

Sources:

ESPN