Guardians 6, Yankees 4
The Guardians took game one of a three-game set against the Yankees tonight behind strong pitching from Gavin Williams and Cade Smith and bombs from José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo.
Williams finally had a start like we’d been hoping to see since Spring Training, going 6 and 1/3rd allowing 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs and striking out 8. His only runs allowed came on a Jasson Dominguez home run in the 7th. Vogt was probably guilty of being a little greedy there but I’m OK with giving guys throwing like Gavin was a chance to get through that inning in that situation.
What I’m not ok with is trying to get Paul Sewald to get more than three outs. It felt very Terry Francona-Bryan Shaw-like for Vogt to attempt to have Sewald face Jazz Chisholm after Paul Goldschmidt singled after two quick outs in the 8th. Goldy singled on the second pitch so I imagine Joey Cantillo may not have been warm? Still, it seems like it would have made sense to have Tim Herrin or Cantillo warm for Chisholm to me. Cantillo came in and walked Anthony Volpe then got Dominguez to strike out. He’s looking pretty solid in relief.
It’s nice, now that the game is safely in hand, to have Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin fresh for tomorrow, along with a hopefully rejuvenated Emmanuel Clase who got to see Cade Smith dominate the Yankees with a splitter that is looking pretty, pretty good.
Cade Smith, Filthy Splitters. pic.twitter.com/QexrENsabF
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 22, 2025
Offensively, Jose was the star with an RBI single and the aforementioned 3-run homer:
Manzardo’s homer was back-to-back of José’s which made for a fun dynamic:
Brayan Rocchio reached base all four times with two singles, a walk and a HBP. Angel Martinez got a double and a single with another start in centerfield, Manzardo added a walk, Steven Kwan had two hits and a walk, and Gabriel Arias added a hit (and two K’s).
As usual, it had more stress than it should have because my fear of losing to the Yankees is my sleep paralysis demon, but overall, it was a complete game from a team that really seems to be finding its way. Now, let’s hope Tanner Bibee can right the ship tomorrow and things can get REAL exciting around here.