Guardians win 6-4 but it was not easy. Tough night for the bottom of the order. Naylor with 2 strikeouts and a walk, Florial with 2 strikeouts and a walk, Rocchio with 3 strikeout and a walk.

On the other hand, the top of the order looked real good. Gimenez had a 3-3, 2 runs, 2 rbi's and 2 walks. Naylor and Kwan 2-5 on the night and Ramirez was 1-5 added a 2-run homer.

Allen had a decent night, left the game with a 5-3 lead. Morgan and GAddis had 3 up and 3 down innings, but Barlow was scary. Barlow walked a pair, gave up run, and only threw 11 strikes on 25 pitches. Clase got the save but it was not easy. Bleday flied out to start the inning. Noda singled. Allen singled. Butler grounded into a Gimenez to Roccho to Naylor DP that ended the game.

J.D. Davis homered twice for the A's. Both solo blasts into the teeth of the swirling winds.

<

Jose Ramirez's two-run homer in the first inning Friday night gave the Guardians a 2-0 lead over Oakland at the Coliseum.

GUARDIANS

José Ramírez strikes early, bullpen holds on late in Guardians’ 6-4 win over A’s

Updated: Mar. 30, 2024, 12:46 a.m.|Published: Mar. 30, 2024, 12:20 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

OAKLAND -- José Ramírez took on a gale Friday night and won.

Ramírez hit the 217th homer of his career to give the Guardians an early lead on the way to a 6-4 win over the A’s at Oakland Coliseum. Ramírez’s first-inning homer, which moved him into sole possession of fifth place in franchise history, sliced through a howling wind in right field for a 2-0 lead.

He had been tied with Carlos Santana and Hal Trosky on Cleveland’s home-run list.

While Ramírez was taking on the wind, left-hander Logan Allen was taking on the first inning. Last year Allen allowed 18 earned runs in the first inning. On Friday night, he retired the A’s in order.

Allen (1-0, 5.40) allowed three runs on six hits in five innings for his first win of the season.

The Guardians’ offense fell silent after the first. J.D. Davis’ leadoff homer in the fourth put the A’s back in the game at 3-1.

Cleveland responded in the fifth. Steven Kwan opened with a single. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Shea Langeliers.

Andrés Giménez, batting in the second spot, doubled to right for a 4-1 lead. Will Brennan’s two-out single off Oakland starter Ross Stripling (0-1, 7.20) made it 5-1.

The A’s, however, kept pushing. They made it 5-2 in the fifth on Esteury Ruiz’s sacrifice fly. Nick Allen, who opened the inning with a double, scored.

Allen came out for the sixth to face Davis for the third time. The meeting did not go well.

Davis turned Allen’s first pitch of the inning into his second homer of the night to make it a 5-3 game. Eli Morgan, waiting in the bullpen, relieved and retired the side in order.

The Guardians had a response every time Oakland drew near.

Kwan and Giménez started the seventh with consecutive doubles for a 6-3 lead. It was Giménez’s second straight double, third hit and second RBI of the game.

Ramirez’s first homer of the season gave the Guardians a 2-0 lead. He hit Stripling’s pitch through a howling wind blowing in from right field. The homer was a line drive, which may have stayed under the strong wind.

Giménez, who reached on a single, scored in front of Ramirez.

Josh Naylor followed Ramírez with a double. He moved to third when Tyler Freeman reached first on an error by third baseman Darell Hernaiz. Naylor scored on a balk by Stripling for a 3-0 lead.

The Guardians ran themselves out of an inning in the third. Giménez drew a lead-off walk. He tried to advance to third on Josh Naylor’s single to center, but was thrown out by JJ Bleday. Giménez motioned to the bench to review the play, but the Guardians didn’t challenge.

Replays showed that Giménez may have avoided Hernaiz’s tag at third with a swim move.

Hunter Gaddis followed Morgan by retiring the A’s in order in the seventh. Scott Barlow was not as fortunate in the eighth, but he still kept the lead.

Barlow, in his Cleveland debut, walked Ruiz and Zack Gelof to start the inning. Davis struck out, but a wild pitch moved Ruiz to third. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Langeliers to make it 6-4. Barlow escaped by retiring Abraham Toro on a pop-up.

The Guardians ran the bases on the wild side Friday. The attempted four steals and were caught twice. Giménez walked to start the ninth and was thrown out attempting to steal second with Ramírez at the plate. That is not high-percentage baseball.

Emmanuel Clase restored order in the ninth to earn his first save.

Next:

RHP Tanner Bibee (10-4, 2.98) vs. LHP JP Sears (5-14, 4.54) Saturday at 4:07 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game. (Pitcher records are from last season).

<

CONDENSED GAME

https://www.mlb.com/video/condensed-gam ... 0Games&p=0

<

with my best hillbilly reference, "we may never lose again!"

Very nice !!!!!!!!

Brayan Rocchio's spinning throw behind second base| 03/29/2024


https://www.mlb.com/guardians/video/nic ... efault-vtp

<

Bleday goes over the wall in straightaway center to take a homer away from Jose. No score middle of 1

Gelof doubled with one out but Bebee fans a pair. End of 1, No score.

Freeman draws a one out walk. Gimenez tripled off the top of the right center field wall for a trlple. Freeman scores. 1-0. Arias blasted one off the glove of the second baseman for an rbi base hit with the infield drawn in. Gimenez scores. 2-0. Hedges flies out. Rocchio flies out to deep center. Side retired. Middle of 2, Guards lead 2-0.

A's load the bases with one out. Force out. Gimenez to Rocchio for the force out. Roccios's throw to first not in time. Davis scores 2-1. Base hit. Run scores. Game tied 2-2 after 2. Bibee not sharp today. Bibee with 40 pitches after 2 innings of play. Bibee may not make it to the 5th with the pitch count at 40.

Laureano with a 2-out standup double to center. That's 12 extra base hits so far this year. Mashing early in the count. Fry walks. Freeman up. Double steal. Laureano on third. Fry to second. Runners on second and third. Two down. Freeman pops out. Middle of 3. 2-2 ball game.

Lead off single for Gelof. Bibee doesn't have it today so far. Bleday pops out to third. One out. Gelof steals second. Rooker walks on a 3-0 pitch. Another 3-0 walk. Bases loaded two out.. The pen is just getting up. Davis goes down on strikes. Two down. Bibee walks in a run. A's take their first lead in the series 3-2. Butler grounds out to end the inning. Bibee with 68 pitches in 3 innings.

Gimenez hit by pitch and immediately steals second base. Arias with an rbi single to left. Guards tie it at 3. Arias steals second and advances to third on the throwing error by the catcher. Hedges sacrifice fly. Guards re-take the lead 4-3. Rocchio with a 1-out double down the left field line. Kwan drills one down the right field line for an rbi base hit. Rocchio scores. 5-3. Jose flies out. Two down. Pitching change. Brennan pinch hitting for Laureano. Brennan pops out to short. Side retired.Middle of 4, Guards lead 5-3.

Bibee back on to throw the 4th. I thought he would be taking a shower by now. A fielding gem with a diving stop by Gimenez gets his man at first. One out. Noda walks. WOW! bibee's fast ball dropped by 2mph. Gelof drives one to the ball in right. Brennan with a nice catch. Bleday, base hit up the middle. Runners on second and first with two outs. Rooker goes down on strikes. Bibee grinding it out. End of 4, Guardians hang on to the lead 5-3 but it hasn't been easy so far.