News and Notes: Guardians drop series finale to Tampa

The Guardians lost to the Rays, 6-2. It was not what you would call a clean game as the Guardians made three errors (Tyler Freeman, Jose Tena and Eli Morgan) and had a few other miscues (Jose Ramirez and Kole Calhoun) that didn’t count as errors. The offense didn’t do much of anything, Trevor Stephan still can’t hold runners, Eli Morgan had a rough inning, Cam Gallagher is so bad as a hitter he makes Myles Straw look good, and Jose Ramirez is still lost at the plate.

Now, the good news. Gabriel Arias had another couple hits, Ramon Laureano and the triumphantly returning Josh Naylor had RBI singles and Xzavion Curry and Sam Hentges had good outings. Laureano also made a very nice, sliding catch in right field

The Twins got walked off by Adolis Garcia in epic fashion, so for whatever slim playoff hopes remain, that’s good news.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why a team that has publicly said “we want to try” to catch the team that leads them by five games continues to give Cam Gallagher and Myles Straw starts. I need someone to explain that to me at some point. Again, both of them are far better at baseball than I am at anything, and both seem like great human beings... but not a major league player in Gallagher’s case and not a major league starting player in Straw’s.

Now, Minnesota comes to town starting tonight with Pablo Lopez vs. Lucas Giolito (for his Guardians’ debut), then Sonny Gray vs. Tanner Bibee and, finally, Gavin Williams vs. Joe Ryan. This series will determine if the rest of the season will be played just for fun or for fun and a slim possibility at more fun in the postseason. Enjoy the ride and don’t get too wrapped up in the results, that’s my advice.

Why didn’t the Guardians add pitching help at the deadline and not before it was likely too late to make much difference? Why didn’t they add Harrison Bader to play centerfield? Because this would have involved giving up prospects and another $2 million, silly rabbit, says Terry Pluto.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs likes Brayan Rocchio and his defense but still thinks Gabriel Arias can’t hit.

Around the Minor Leagues:

It was quite a day for the Clippers who won 14-6, featuring a 3 for 3 with 3 walks, a double and a homer for Brayan Rocchio, a 5 for 6 with a double and a mammoth homer for Jhonkensy Noel

also a 3 for 5 with two doubles for George Valera who hit 4 balls over 100 mph. Valera should probably be playing in Cleveland over Will Brennan or Myles Straw (who still has two options, for what it’s worth).

Akron won 6-3 with Petey Halpin going 2 for 5 with a double and a grand slam for catcher Michael Berglund. Franco Aleman actually gave up a hit! But still pitched a scoreless 9th.

The Captains lost 12-0 but Dayan Frias had 2 hits and Parker Messick struck out 7 in 5 innings while giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks.

The Hillcats won 6-5 and Jose Devers went 2 for 4, and Angel Genao went 2 for 5 with a double.

Around MLB:

Shohei Ohtani has another 40-20 season.

The Phillies are smacking teams around.

Pete Alonso has hit 40 homers for the Mets three different times now.

MLB media is about to be very obnoxious about the Yankees’ Jasson Dominguez, but he does seem like a fun young player.