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Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Nolan Jones scores go-ahead run on throwing error in 7th, Guardians beat Astros 4-2
CLEVELAND — Nolan Jones scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by pitcher Steven Okert in the seventh inning, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Houston Astros 4-2 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. Steven Kwan followed with a sacrifice fly, plating Bo Naylor, as Okert (1-2) allowed two runs in his lone inning. Houston had tied the game at 2-all in the top of the seventh on Cam Smith's two-run double against Tanner Bibee.
Associated Press
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Nolan Jones scores go-ahead run on throwing error in 7th, Guardians beat Astros 4-2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Nolan Jones scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by pitcher Steven Okert in the seventh inning, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Houston Astros 4-2 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. Steven Kwan followed with a sacrifice fly, plating Bo Naylor, as Okert (1-2) allowed two runs in his lone inning. Houston had tied the game at 2-all in the top of the seventh on Cam Smith's two-run double against Tanner Bibee. Cade Smith (2-2) retired all five batters he faced, striking out three. Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his 14th save. Naylor matched his season high with three hits, including a two-run homer in the second off Brandon Walter. The Guardians had lost eight of their previous 12 games. Walter, who was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land earlier in the day, allowed two runs in six innings. Jake Meyers matched a career high with four hits for the Astros, who went 4-2 on a six-game trip and have won 10 of their last 14. Bibee, who carried a two-hit shutout into the seventh, struck out six without a walk over 6 1/3 innings. Key moment Okert cleanly fielded Will Wilson's sacrifice bunt in the seventh, but flung the ball past first baseman Christian Walker, allowing Jones to race home from second. Naylor also advanced to third on the error. Key stat Guardians third baseman José Ramírez extended his on-base streak to 34 games with a single. It's the longest for the franchise since Jason Kipnis' 36-gamer in 2013. Up next Astros: RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1, 4.44 ERA) opens a three-game series and a six-game homestand Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. Guardians: RHP Luis Ortiz (3-6, 4.02) starts Monday as longtime Cleveland manager Terry Francona returns to town with the Cincinnati Reds. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trey Sweeney's incredible diving stop, throw
Trey Sweeney dives to snag a hard-hit ball from Nolan Jones, quickly getting to his feet to complete the throw for the first out of the 9th inning
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Nine numbers that reflect the state of the up-and-down Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians need a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds next month or they'll relinquish the Ohio Cup to their Buckeye State foes for the first time since 2014. These are desperate times in northeast Ohio. Let's examine some numbers that shed some light on the Guardians' state of play as they embark on a week of in-division play against the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers, the two teams ahead of them in the AL Central. Advertisement That OPS, by the way, was a meager .526 entering Sunday. Only the Royals' right fielders have been less productive. Jhonkensy Noel is 12-for-80 with 27 strikeouts. Nolan Jones is 19-for-105 with 36 strikeouts. For an offense that, as a whole, ranks 21st in OPS, this has been the greatest problem area. Lane Thomas could help to alleviate what's been a black hole when he returns in the coming days. Perhaps the most shocking part about this right field timeshare? Jones and Noel, whom both possess the muscle to pepper the upper deck seats, have combined for only four homers. Entering Sunday, only 12 qualified big leaguers had logged a lower slugging percentage. Santana is drawing walks at a healthy clip, per usual, but his extra-base hits have vanished. He has three doubles and four home runs, or about one extra-base hit per week. Santana's at-bats per extra-base hit, by year: 2025: 21.3 2024: 10.6 2023: 9.6 2022: 11.6 2021: 16.6 2020: 13.7 2019: 8.8 David Fry will return soon from elbow surgery, and if Santana's power hasn't resurfaced by then, the Guardians can't be afraid to slice into his playing time. That'd be his highest wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) since 2020, when he finished runner-up in AL MVP voting. This signifies that he's been 44 percent more proficient than the league-average hitter this year, in case anyone was concerned that the 32-year-old was slowing down at the plate. He has boosted his walk rate, trimmed his strikeout rate and is hitting for his highest average since 2017. He's on pace for 32 homers and 42 stolen bases. Stephen Vogt's lineup couldn't survive without him. José Ramírez crushes a 401-foot homer 💥 #RivalryWeekend — MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2025 He has 10 thus far, and where would the Guardians be without that new power source? Here's the list of Cleveland hitters with 35 or more in a season in the 21st century: Tanner Bibee is responsible for three of the seven. Luis Ortiz has two, and Logan Allen and Gavin Williams have one apiece. That's it. That's about one start of that caliber per week. The rest of the league has accounted for 409 of these starts, or about 14 per club. It helps to explain how Cleveland has already used 21 pitchers (after using an average of 27.5 the last four years), and that doesn't include Vince Velasquez, who spent a few days on the roster but didn't enter a game. Advertisement Among Cleveland's starters, only Ben Lively has a lower rate. Bibee hasn't looked like himself for much of this season. Last year, he struck out more than five hitters in 18 of 31 outings. This year, it's 0-for-9. His chase rate and whiff rate have tumbled, too. A shift to focusing on efficiency for the sake of piling up innings, rather than chasing strikeouts, is perfectly sensible, and Bibee has been pitching deeper into games over the last few weeks. The results, however, have been mixed. Bibee's 4.06 ERA is right around league average. That's across 17 innings (even though, somehow, he has recorded only six strikeouts). Allard has been a savior for Cleveland's pen, just as everyone would have expected. The quartet of Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin remains the team's core strength. But the other half of the bullpen has been a revolving door. The Guardians need another reliable arm or two, even if Allard's output proves sustainable. The answers might be waiting in Triple-A Columbus in the form of Andrew Walters, Franco Aleman and Nic Enright. Allard was a first-round pick a decade ago and a consensus top 100 prospect for three years. He broke into the big leagues before he turned 21. But it's been a bumpy road to this point. Now 27, Allard signed a minor-league deal with the Guardians — his fourth team in eight years — and worked his way into their bullpen. He has pitched in long relief to rescue the staff and has even dabbled in high-leverage opportunities. He's putting to use the lessons learned from 10 years of trials. 'I wouldn't have always been able to sit up here and tell you exactly who I am as a pitcher,' Allard said. 'I stopped trying to chase velocity, velocity, velocity and tried to focus more on making pitches, mixing pitches and putting them in the right spots. … I've taken some lumps at the big-league level and there were times when I thought throwing harder might solve those problems. Just getting older, being a little more mature, slowing the game down a little bit out there and seeing things before they happen (has helped).' Only Ramîrez can top Schneemann's .839 OPS, a development everyone surely predicted. He ranks third on the team in homers, with six (one more than he hit all of last year in twice the trips to the plate). His emergence has been critical for a middle infield in flux. Brayan Rocchio was so ineffective he was optioned to Triple A. Gabriel Arias has been fine. Juan Brito is sidelined until the middle of the summer. Angel Martínez has been needed to patrol center field. Advertisement This is, admittedly, an oddly specific statistic. Why is it interesting? Well, one of those 14 is Bibee. OK, fine. Another one? Ben Lively. No one would have anticipated that when Lively, a career journeyman with a 5.05 ERA, landed in Cleveland on a league-minimum deal a year and a half ago. He's on the injured list, and is awaiting a second opinion on his right forearm strain. But he was pitching as well as he ever has, allowing only one run in 14 innings in May and holding the opposition to zero or one run in five of his last seven starts. 'That's the worst part about it,' he said. 'That's why I just wanted to keep running back onto the field, even though it was (painful).' He first felt the discomfort on a strikeout of Josh Bell in the fourth inning of his start against the Washington Nationals on May 6. That day, he lasted only 63 pitches. He exited after three innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last Monday and then wound up on the injured list. He said he endured 'the craziest mental game of all time' as he debated whether to speak up about his injury as he stood atop the mound and knew something wasn't right. Ultimately, his forearm felt tighter, and despite insisting he was fine, 'They were basically like, 'OK, stop, Mr. Tough Guy,'' he said. (Top photo of José Ramírez: Ben Jackson / Getty Images)
Fox Sports
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Last Night in Baseball: Meet MLB's surprising home run leader
There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to handle themselves. That's why we're here to help, though, by sifting through the previous days' games, and figuring out what you missed, but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: MLB's HR leader … the Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom? It's not like the Athletics have never had big bats in the history of their franchise. The Bash Brothers helped bring the A's their most recent World Series title in 1989. (That was an entire Taylor Swift's lifetime ago!) Even more recently, Brent Rooker just put together back-to-back 30-home run seasons. Still, the A's are not the first (or second, or even 27th) team you probably think of if you're talking about sluggers. And yet, it's their first baseman who is currently leading the majors in dingers. On Thursday, Soderstrom blasted his ninth homer of the season to lead the A's to an 8-0 win and a series sweep over the hapless White Sox. Though he's in the midst of a breakout year, it's understandable if you aren't all that familiar with the 23-year-old. Here are a few facts to get to know him a little more: He was the 26th-overall selection of the 2020 MLB Draft. His nine homers rank as the second-most in franchise history through 19 games. He's tied with Reggie Jackson (1974) and Mark McGwire (1992), and trails Bob Cerv (1958) and Khris Davis (2019) by one. He was raised on an almond farm in Turlock, California, where he grew up playing on a small "Field of Dreams"-type baseball field. His dad, Steve, was also a first-round draft pick who pitched three games for the San Francisco Giants in 1996. Patrick Corbin's mysterious bug bite Corbin made his first home start with the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. But as he revealed on Thursday, he almost didn't pitch due to a mysterious bug bite that left him with a swollen ankle. "It was really bad in the morning," Corbin said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to throw." "He had a bite. He could hardly walk when he came into the clubhouse," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "Some kind of venom got in there. Not sure if it was a spider or what. He was 50-50 on whether he would make the start or not." The venom didn't hurt Corbin — or maybe it helped him in a Peter Parker kind of way. The 35-year-old earned his first win of the season after allowing just one run against the Los Angeles Angels. Corbin, who is staying at Max Scherzer's home, just signed with the Rangers last month after spending the previous six seasons with the Nationals. They say everything is bigger in Texas. Apparently, that includes the bugs. Nolan Jones takes a baseball to the beans Listen, if Nolan Jones can laugh about it, then so can we. "He might have got him somewhere in the groin area." We can feel pretty confident in that assertion, yes. Justin Martinez brings the heat Part of what makes baseball so gripping are the moment-to-moment decisions and plays. Here, you see Diamonbacks' reliever Justin Martinez with the bases loaded, in a 1-2 count just nine pitches into his outing, trying to clean up a mess and hold Arizona's slim 6-4 lead over the Marlins. This is a situation where a pitcher has what basically boil down to two options. Throw something a hitter is going to chase or not go after at all, giving them the opportunity to mess up while you leverage the remaining balls the plate appearance has left before a walk. Or! You could throw the hitter off guard by going maximum velocity down the pipe, instead, in the hope they either won't be able to catch up to it enough to cause damage with it, or will simply blink, ending the at-bat. Martinez got Connor Norby to blink on a 102-mph heater that, ever so briefly, looked like it might tail away from Norby and the strike zone. It did not do that. Threat and inning over, and the Diamondbacks would go on to complete the sweep. Reds fall apart late, courtesy Mariners' power The Reds and Mariners played a wild one, with the Mariners extending their lead to 5-3 in the top of the eighth, only for the Reds to go ahead, 7-5, on a grand slam by Jake Fraley in the bottom of the inning. Seattle would respond with a Cal Raleigh blast followed by another by Randy Arozarena, which tied it up and sent the game to extras. The Mariners would pile on in the 10th, with Arozarena's two-run double the dagger, and the Reds had no answers for that in the bottom of the frame. Seattle took the game 11-7, and the series as well. Baseball can be a cruel roller coaster of a game, but that's so much of the appeal, isn't it? Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Major League Baseball recommended Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
