Slade Cecconi allowed five hits and four runs with one walk and three strikeouts over four innings in a loss to the Rangers on Friday.
Cecconi was done in by a bad first inning here. He walked the first batter of the game before a single, double, and two-out, three-run home run. Those would wind up being the only four runs he’d give up, but the damage was done. The 27 pitches he threw in that frame made it difficult for him to pitch deeply in this game and he wasn’t particularly sharp after that either, missing badly with too many of his breaking balls. It was not a great finale after working his way to being a trusted starter in the Guardians’ rotation over the course of the season.