Of course we get back-to-back series with night games. Look, even living on the West Coast, this Belle prefers earlier games because she has to work! A 10pm ET game is 7pm on the West, and no one’s happy about that.
On the 0ther hand, for the first time since I moved out West, I was able to watch a Dodgers game! The Dodgers have a deal with Spectrum and you have to have Spectrum to watch the game. Which is so stupid I can’t even begin to explain how mad I am. Let me just point out that I lived a few hours away from LA. That’s considered local ‘enough’ for the blackout rule to apply.
Series Results
Honestly I wasn’t looking forward to this series. The second game will likely have Ohtani pitching.
Highlights
I told you the game numbers would make more sense when we got to the second series.
We started out in 3rd place for the AL Central because our run differential was terrible. Meaning, our opponents scored more than we did. Generally you win games by scoring more, so I think the importance of a good run differential is pretty apparent.
Happy Passover, folks! I’ve been to Dodger stadium a few times and honestly I hate it. Between the parking situation and the fact that you can get a train and a bus to the game, but both stop running before the game ends so you’re SOL getting home, it’s outright maddening.
And let us not forget to mention how they treated a 50-year fan (tl;dr – the 82 year old has a flip phone, and the Dodgers refuse to give him paper tickets). Can we say dick move, folks? Meanwhile the Guards paid for John Adams‘ tickets! One for him, one for his drum! Rest in peace, John. We loved hearing your drum.
Game 1 (5) – Won
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| LAD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
- Kwan started back in Left. There’s been some Reddit chatter that the Kwan-Center experiment will last about as long as the Jose-batting-second one did last year. (PS if you’re in the Guards subreddit, I adore you weirdos).
- Hedgy got his first start of the season, which is nice to see. Getting a hit on his first at bat was also nice to see. Also congrats to a decade in the Show, Hedges!
- Messick’s pick off of second was insanely fast! It was so good the umpire couldn’t get into position in time! Also? He struck out Ohtani, and I bet he’ll be getting drinks off that for years. Messick loses points for going after that bunt pop out, mind you. That’s José’s job.
- José played in his 1614th game, tying him with Nap Lajoie for most games played by a Guardian. Terry Turner has 1619 games, which means in 5 games, the GOAT will be tied for first, and in 6 he’s our outright hero.
- We got to the Dodger bullpen and took three runs off a reliever, one of which was a walk. Yes, Hoskins walked with the bases loaded, and then Scheemann doubled for two more runs.
- I was on tenterhooks for the last inning. As Hammy said, there needs to be a new rule that four to nothing against the Dodgers constitutes a save situation. Still, no one needed that Cade Smith Coronary.
Game 2 (6) – Lost
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| LAD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 4 | 10 | 0 |
- Playing against Ohtani is always rough for me. My step-mother is Japanese and loves him, and I don’t want to disappoint her, but we do jokingly say we’re enemies for these games.
- I was worried about Bibee giving up a long ball in the first inning, but the heavy marine air was helping us out a lot. Of course that works both ways, and José’s hard hit drive was caught by the fence.
- I’m really liking Angel Martinez in left. He’s looking very comfortable there. That hit of the inside of his knee looked brutal.
- Chase DeLauter fouled the second pitch off his foot and had to leave the game. It looked like he was in serious pain and, knowing how many foot injuries he’s had over the years, all Guards fans are scared. Thankfully the X-ray confirmed it was just a bruise!
- Honestly this whole game felt like a ‘shit on Cleveland’ game. The good news is that Cleveland had some long hits that would have been a home run at home, so we can expect a José dinger soon.
Game 3 (7) – Won
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| LAD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
- Big Rig (aka Gavin Williams) was looking a lot better today. He’s one of three Cleveland pitchers to strike out ten Dodgers players. The other two? Cy Young winners CC Sabathia (2008) and Corey Kluber (2017).
- Schneemann bulked up a little over the winter and it paid off with a solid hustle double. Combine that with a steal of third and a rare throwing error from the Dodgers, and we got a run!
- I didn’t have Arias roping one out dead center on my card today, but he did it!
- Angel Martinez got drilled on the inside of his left knee two nights in a row, which prompted me to shout “Could you maybe aim ANYWHERE ELSE?” (If you’ve seen In & Out, that’s funny.)
- Jose finally was rewarded for how well he hits, and we chanted the “José!” song. His first homer of the season, and his first in Dodger Stadium ever! 🐐
- Smith giving up a solo home run to Freddie Freeman was rough, but you can see he’s settling into the role as Closer, and getting his secondary pitches working.
Wrap Up
Overall? We did way better than I expected!
I don’t like how some of our guys are using ABS. I know Vogt has (for now) prohibited the pitchers from using it, but our batters have been wasting the challenges early. There needs to be a talking to about proper usage.