Cleveland

Guardians

It held up early in the game, but the Twins tied it 1-1 in the eighth and Bailey failed to get a bunt down to move the ghost runner over in extra innings in one of an incredible four straight half-innings in which neither team scored. Bailey has now hit three homers and batted .277/.320/.511 in his last 15 games. It’s a fun hot streak, but Bailey is not in the big leagues for his bat.

No save for Smith, who was summoned with one out in the eighth and allowed a game-tying single to Alan Roden to score one of two inherited runners from Hunter Gaddis. Smith settled in to keep the game tied, but the Guardians didn’t score in the bottom of the eighth or ninth. It only took 22 pitches, so Smith is probably in line to pitch tomorrow if needed.

He allowed just a pair of singles in the process and recorded an immaculate inning in the fourth, striking out Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Bell on nine pitches. Williams’ secondaries were downright nasty today, as he generated 18 whiffs on 39 swings between his sweeper and curveball. It was a good bounceback from a five-earned run clunker against the Pirates in his last start that was fueled by three homers, and Williams moved his ERA on the season back under 4 with the effort. He’ll take his talents to Great American Ballpark next week.

Being activated somewhat surprisingly and not playing in a single rehab game after breaking his hamate bone about six weeks ago, Ramírez wasted no time making an impact in his return from the injured list. He singled in the first inning, tagged to second base on a fly ball, and then came around to score. He also legged out an infield single in the second that pushed another run across. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Ramírez made a throwing error to start the eighth that opened the door for a big Twins rally and he grounded out with the bases loaded to end the bottom of that inning. Regardless, it’s great news for the Guardians and fantasy managers alike that Ramírez is back.

Cecconi was greeted rudely by Trevor Larnach who hit a lead-off home run off him. From there he didn’t pitch particularly well, but his defense didn’t do him many favors either. Kyle Manzardo made an error at first base in the second inning that didn’t lead to any runs. Then, shortstop Brayan Rocchio made a throwing error in the fourth that led to a big inning. Alan Roden reached base on the error, scored a few batters later on an infield single, and then Brooks Lee hit a three-run homer with two outs. Thus, four unearned runs on Cecconi’s line. Oddly enough, Roden was at the plate for both of those errors and another one later on! Nevertheless, Cecconi has had a poor season with a 4.60 ERA across 103 2/3 innings this season and could lose his spot in this rotation should the Guardians make an upgrade at starting pitcher before the trade deadline.

With Jose Ramirez back, the Guardians will likely need to use both Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann in the outfield more than the infield, so Watson was the one who got sent down. The 23-year-old hit .239/.264/.341 in 91 plate appearances with nine steals.

Ramírez was placed on the IL with a fractured hamate bone on June 16th, so he has missed just over a month and will be right back out on the field for the Guardians. We could see a bit of a power dip in the first few weeks back, but Ramírez has always hit for power thanks to how often he pulls the ball in the air and not impressive raw exit velocities, so perhaps he can survive the recovery from hamate surgery better than others. Regardless, he should be back in all fantasy lineups.

Smith struck out one and didn’t allow a single baserunner en route to his 29th save of the season. That expands his league lead by four saves over Bryan Baker. It’s been quite a first season as a closer for Smith.

Arias had the two hardest-hit balls of the game with a 108 mph single in the fourth inning and a 111.1 mph single in the sixth. It’s been a good month for Arias, who is now 12-for-40 (.300) with two home runs, seven runs scored, four RBI, and three steals in 14 games. The problem is that it also comes with a 19/3 K/BB ratio. Arias has loud raw tools, but the plate approach will always make him risky in fantasy leagues.

Messick struck out six and didn’t walk a batter while throwing 67 percent of his pitches for strikes but posting just a nine percent swinging strike rate. The left-hander pounded the zone with his fastballs, but his changeup failed to land in the zone or get many chases. Still, he was able to prevent much damage and probably could have gotten through six innings but was pulled with a runner on when he was at just 88 pitches. He’ll get a stiff test on Sunday against a Rays team that refuses to strike out.