Thursday’s schedule for Major League Baseball was light because neither the Yankees nor their AL East or West competitors were playing. It’s now appropriate for a quick AL Central feature! (No, we won’t even attempt to mention the awful White Sox or the Royals.) Normally, they are pushed to the bottom of the “Other Games of Note” section, but today, they are the main focus.
Minnesota Twins (3-3) 4, Cleveland Guardians (6-2) 2.
The Guardians’ unexpected run to 92 wins and a division title in 2022 was seriously taken to task last year. They slumped to a 76-86 record, and while they were leading the AL Central by a slim margin at the All-Star break, they performed so poorly in the second half—going 10 games below.500—that the Twins were able to win the AL Central with just 87 victories.
Terry Francona, the team’s captain, decided to hang up his boots, and Stephen Vogt, who had been playing as recently as the 2022 campaign, took over. And what do you know? In fact, Cleveland is off to a bright start under Vogt in 2024. It was nothing special to take three of four games in Oakland to begin the season; the A’s are such a bust that they won’t even have a city name in 2025. However, winning two of three in Seattle attracted attention, particularly considering how easily they defeated George Kirby and Luis Castillo.
The preseason favorites will now play the Guardians in three straight games in Minnesota. With junior Tanner Bibee against Pablo López, the matchup would have appeared to benefit the Twins. However, in 5.1 innings, Bibee struck out nine batters while scattering five hits, allowing just one run and no walks.
Cleveland, however, scored three against Lopez in the third inning with a rally that resembled their 2022 team quite a bit:
Steven Kwan is unmarried.
Andrés Giménez (solo)
José Ramírez single with RBI
Fielder’s decision of Josh Naylor (Giménez out at home)
Tyler Freeman single with an RBI
Will Brennan’s offering succeed?
In the seventh inning, with the Twins leading 4-1, Vogt put Hunter Gaddis in to face Byron Buxton with the bases loaded and one out. After going down hard, the former All-Star scored a run on a wild pitch by Gaddis, but Max Kepler’s popup put an end to the threat.
After Scott Barlow struck out the side in the eighth, Carlos Correa found himself stranded at second as well. Willi Castro, Manuel Margot, and Carlos Santana were all fanned by the former Royals closer in that order. In Minny, the Guardians won and made a statement thanks to Emmanuel Clase’s save. They’ll get another two opportunities after today’s rest day.
Although we don’t follow the Tigers every day, yesterday’s light schedule allowed us to…
New York Mets (0-5) 6, Detroit Tigers (5-0) 3 (eighteen innings)
The Mets lost to the Tigers! Though it took a while, it finally happened!
Detroit Tigers (5-1) vs. New York Mets (1-5) 1.
They no-hit the Mets for seven innings before losing to them. Oops! (In addition, it’s absurd that Pete Alonso homered on that pitch.)
