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CLEVELAND — The Guardians received impact performances Saturday, April 18, from three of the most important positions on a baseball field: pitcher, catcher and shortstop.
Starting pitcher Gavin Williams and closer Cade Smith were sharp on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles.
Shortstop Brayan Rocchio and catcher Bo Naylor were solid defensively, and each hit a home run in the Guardians' 4-2 win over the Orioles one night after a disappointing 6-4 loss in which a grand slam by Daniel Schneemann was wasted.
It was a welcome sight for Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and his players.
More MLB coverage: Former Akron Zips pitcher Chris Bassitt keeps showing he's a competitor for the Baltimore Orioles
“That’s baseball,” Rocchio said. “Some days you are going to be the hero and some days you are going to be the loser. That’s part of baseball.”
Williams, Smith, Rocchio and Naylor were Saturday’s heroes for the Guardians.
Vogt said Williams was “throwing strikes” and “filling up the [strike] zone and getting ahead [of batters].”
Williams (3-1) struck out 11 over seven innings and allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run.
“That's as good a mix I think we've seen from him,” Vogt said. “I thought the usage of both breaking balls, cutter, sinker and fastball [was good]. I thought Bo called a great game and he executed. I felt like he pitched with his spin tonight and really surprised them with fastballs. That was unbelievable. Just a great job being efficient. … He had a lot of punchouts, which usually, that means higher pitch count, but that wasn’t the case tonight. He was finishing guys right away.”
Williams retired the last 11 Orioles batters he faced after center fielder Leody Taveras hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth inning. He threw 100 pitches, including 73 for strikes.
“Gavin’s a hard worker and he wants to be great,” Vogt said. “I think that is a dangerous combination.”
Williams said “first-pitch strikes is a big thing.”
“I felt like I executed pretty well throwing behind in counts, ahead in counts and on the first pitch [in at-bats],” Williams said. “I had a good feel for the slider and the curveball, just dropping it in there in any count really.
“… I am just trying to do the best that I can. I know the walk rates been up a little bit, but trying to cut it down tonight with the delivery. Talking with [pitching coaches] BG [Brad Goldberg], Joe [Torres] and Carl [Willis], this is the best it's been all year and the best it's felt. So just trying to go next day after that and keep on doing the same thing.”
Rocchio delivered the biggest swing for the Guardians with a three-run home run to right field with two outs in the fifth inning off Orioles starter Dean Kremer (0-1).
“It felt great,” Rocchio said of his home run. “I want to give credit to Williams for holding the game for [seven] innings with one run [allowed] and waiting for that big hit.”
Rocchio said the No. 9 spot in the batting order is “my home.”
“Brayan works extremely hard, both defensively and offensively,” Vogt said. “He’s grown into a big leaguer. He's been here for a couple of years. Brayan can play both spots in the middle infield, and play them very well, and, man, he’s had some big at-bats for us this year. It was really fun. A fun night for him.”
Kremer did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He walked Rhys Hoskins with one out and allowed a single to right by Schneemann.
“Great at-bat by Hoskins to get on, Schnee with the base hit just to put the pressure on them and Rocchy with the big swing,” Vogt said. “We didn’t get as much traffic tonight as probably we would like, but when we did we made them pay.”
Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson hit a solo home run to right off Hunter Gaddis to make it 3-2 in the eighth. Naylor countered with a solo home run to right off Orioles reliever Albert Suarez in the bottom of the inning to conclude the scoring.
“Bo’s been hitting the ball hard,” Vogt said. “He’s been hitting the ball hard to the big part of the park and at people. … For him to get that result and to give us the insurance run, huge, huge at-bat.”
Smith struck out Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser and Taveras swinging in a perfect ninth inning.
Vogt said Smith “looked relaxed” in his outing after making “some slight adjustments with the pitching team.”
“That was as good as we’ve seen him north-south, the split was there and he located the fastball at the top [of the strike zone],” Vogt continued. “A really good night for Cade.”
Akron Beacon Journal sports writer Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Gavin Williams, Brayan Rocchio step into hero roles for Guardians
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Starting pitcher Gavin Williams and closer Cade Smith were sharp on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles.
Shortstop Brayan Rocchio and catcher Bo Naylor were solid defensively, and each hit a home run in the Guardians' 4-2 win over the Orioles one night after a disappointing 6-4 loss in which a grand slam by Daniel Schneemann was wasted.
It was a welcome sight for Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and his players.
More MLB coverage: Former Akron Zips pitcher Chris Bassitt keeps showing he's a competitor for the Baltimore Orioles
“That’s baseball,” Rocchio said. “Some days you are going to be the hero and some days you are going to be the loser. That’s part of baseball.”
Williams, Smith, Rocchio and Naylor were Saturday’s heroes for the Guardians.
Vogt said Williams was “throwing strikes” and “filling up the [strike] zone and getting ahead [of batters].”
Williams (3-1) struck out 11 over seven innings and allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run.
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“That's as good a mix I think we've seen from him,” Vogt said. “I thought the usage of both breaking balls, cutter, sinker and fastball [was good]. I thought Bo called a great game and he executed. I felt like he pitched with his spin tonight and really surprised them with fastballs. That was unbelievable. Just a great job being efficient. … He had a lot of punchouts, which usually, that means higher pitch count, but that wasn’t the case tonight. He was finishing guys right away.”
Williams retired the last 11 Orioles batters he faced after center fielder Leody Taveras hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth inning. He threw 100 pitches, including 73 for strikes.
“Gavin’s a hard worker and he wants to be great,” Vogt said. “I think that is a dangerous combination.”
Williams said “first-pitch strikes is a big thing.”
“I felt like I executed pretty well throwing behind in counts, ahead in counts and on the first pitch [in at-bats],” Williams said. “I had a good feel for the slider and the curveball, just dropping it in there in any count really.
“… I am just trying to do the best that I can. I know the walk rates been up a little bit, but trying to cut it down tonight with the delivery. Talking with [pitching coaches] BG [Brad Goldberg], Joe [Torres] and Carl [Willis], this is the best it's been all year and the best it's felt. So just trying to go next day after that and keep on doing the same thing.”
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Rocchio delivered the biggest swing for the Guardians with a three-run home run to right field with two outs in the fifth inning off Orioles starter Dean Kremer (0-1).
“It felt great,” Rocchio said of his home run. “I want to give credit to Williams for holding the game for [seven] innings with one run [allowed] and waiting for that big hit.”
Rocchio said the No. 9 spot in the batting order is “my home.”
“Brayan works extremely hard, both defensively and offensively,” Vogt said. “He’s grown into a big leaguer. He's been here for a couple of years. Brayan can play both spots in the middle infield, and play them very well, and, man, he’s had some big at-bats for us this year. It was really fun. A fun night for him.”
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Kremer did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He walked Rhys Hoskins with one out and allowed a single to right by Schneemann.
“Great at-bat by Hoskins to get on, Schnee with the base hit just to put the pressure on them and Rocchy with the big swing,” Vogt said. “We didn’t get as much traffic tonight as probably we would like, but when we did we made them pay.”
Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson hit a solo home run to right off Hunter Gaddis to make it 3-2 in the eighth. Naylor countered with a solo home run to right off Orioles reliever Albert Suarez in the bottom of the inning to conclude the scoring.
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“Bo’s been hitting the ball hard,” Vogt said. “He’s been hitting the ball hard to the big part of the park and at people. … For him to get that result and to give us the insurance run, huge, huge at-bat.”
Smith struck out Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser and Taveras swinging in a perfect ninth inning.
Vogt said Smith “looked relaxed” in his outing after making “some slight adjustments with the pitching team.”
“That was as good as we’ve seen him north-south, the split was there and he located the fastball at the top [of the strike zone],” Vogt continued. “A really good night for Cade.”
Akron Beacon Journal sports writer Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Gavin Williams, Brayan Rocchio step into hero roles for Guardians
Continue reading...
