Guardians' Bats Explode As Cleveland Takes Two Of Three Over Pirates, Series Recap

The Cleveland Guardians score double-digit runs in back-to-back games as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Author:
Tommy Wild
Jul 19, 2023 3:29 PM EDT

In this story:

Cleveland Guardians

Pittsburgh Pirates

Baseball is a weird game.

In some series, you struggle to get a hit, and the next you're putting up double-digit runs while barely allowing a run to score. That's the situation the Cleveland Guardians found themselves in against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cleveland went down to Texas after the All-Star break and got swept by the Rangers in three games. Texas' elite offense poured the runs on Cleveland as they struggled to strike back with their own.

The tables have now turned as the Guardians clinch a series victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates as they outscored their opponent 21-1 in the first two games.

It didn't appear that this was going to be the case at the start though. Quinn Priester took the mound and made his Major League debut in game one of the series. He easily made his way through Cleveland's order the first time through. However, the second time he saw batters is where he saw trouble.

An Amed Rosario home run, Bo Naylor RBI double, RBI base hits from Josh Naylor and Jose Ramirez, and a home run from Andres Gimenez knocked Priester out of the game in the sixth inning after giving up seven runs.

Josh didn't stop there and hit an opposite-field home run that really sealed the deal.

The barrage of runs continued in game two. Mitch Keller, who started for the National League All-Star team just a week ago, made the start for the Pirates as they looked to bounce back.

Cleveland planned an aggressive approach against Keller which worked well for them The Guardians put up four runs on the All-Star ... in the first six pitches. The last time a Cleveland team had four runs after the first four batters was on July 27, 2019, which ended with a Jason Kipnis Grand slam.

Keller went on to pitch a total of six innings but gave up eight earned runs to Cleveland's offense.

Naylor stole the show in game two as he had a multi-home run game and dove in six RBI.

The Pirates rallied late in the series finale to avoid being swept by the Guardians. However, the bats weren't the problem in this one. Cleveland still out-hit Pittsburgh 10-9 while scoring five runs.

A bullpen meltdown combined with a misplay by Rosario at shortstop ended up being the difference maker.

The Pirates' offense isn't terrible, but it's nothing like what Cleveland saw against the Rangers. Next up, the Guardians have a three-game weekend set with a dynamic Philadelphia Phillies lineup that can score on command.

Hopefully, the Guardians saved a few runs for their next series. They're going to need it.

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