Cleveland! Your Guardians are red hot right now! The Cleveland Guardians had the highest-rated offense in the MLB during their latest homestand. On Sunday afternoon the Cleveland Guardians shut out the Houston Astros which gave the team their 31st win of the year. This also marks the first time Cleveland has won a series against the Astros in five years. Cleveland had a great showing, scoring 19 runs in three games according to Sportsillistrated.com.
This offensive explosion may be shocking to some around the league as Cleveland was dead last in offensive ratings to start the season. However, for fans and people close to the Guardians know that this is the team that took the Yankees 5 games in the ALDS. The Cleveland Guardians have woken up and they are coming for the American League Central crown!
Where Did This Come From?
Cleveland’s turnaround started back in their series win over the Cardinals. Jose Ramirez won them that series with a walk-off in the final game. From there they would pick up series wins from Baltimore, Boston, Houston, and a split with Minnesota. Ramirez having his first three-homer game against the Red Sox.
Behind the big bats of Josh Naylor and Jose Ramirez, The Cleveland Guardians are turning their season around fast! Cleveland has won 10 of their last 16 games and they have cut the division lead to just 1.5 games. It is not just one player carrying the offense either. Of course Naylor and Ramirez are doing their thing, but Josh Bell, Andres Gimenez, and Will Brennan have also been big contributors.
Josh Naylor is batting .436 in the past 15 days. Josh Bell had a 3-4 night. Will Brennan had a 14th-inning walk-off in Houston. Cleveland’s calling card is their pitching, but now they are very scary since the offense showed up. The Cleveland Guardians are coming!
Are They Back For Good?
With the Guards finally playing like themselves again, will they be able to keep it going? They are heading to San Diego to take on the Padres next. This will be another good test to see if this team is truly back or not. The Padres have been a solid team for the past few years. They have gotten the pieces they have wanted and they are in a win-now mode.
It will be very interesting to see how Cleveland goes about this series. Will those bats stay awake? Or will Cleveland fall flat again? Only time will tell as game one of this three-game series starts tonight!
Image Credits: commons.wikimedia.org.
Amanda Lynne