Cleveland have been the A’s kryptonite all season long, but they’ve been doing it to the rest of baseball as well
Since when did the 2024 Cleveland Guardians become the 1920’s New York Yankees?
Good morning A’s Nation and happy weekend. In just about an hour, the A’s and Guardians will square off for game two of their three-game series in Cleveland after the A’s fell 2-10 last night.
In five games against the Guardians this season, the A’s are 1-4 and have been outscored 13-39. A’s former backstop and now Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt has his boys locked in against his old team, and in general for that matter. The Guardians are tied for MLB’s best record at 14-6 despite losing their ace Shane Bieber for the year just a week into the season.
I know it’s early, but the Guardians have shocked many. The good news: the A’s only have to play them two more times for the rest of the season.
Today, they’ll hand the ball to Alex Wood to start the fifth time around the pitching cycle. Wood is coming off his worst start of the season since Opening Day last Sunday against the Washington Nationals where he was tagged for seven hits and four runs in four innings. That Opening Day start was against the Guardians, and Wood looked even worse as he allowed six runs through 3.1 frames.
What’s been in between those two starts hasn’t been the most beautiful either. Wood has allowed 25 hits, 15 runs and 10 walks through 16.2 innings pitched this season, and it feels like if he can’t turn it around soon we could see him in a different role. Just a quality start today would go a really long way.
Here is the lineup behind Wood for today:
Game ✌️ in Cleveland pic.twitter.com/0rmu82x1zH
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) April 20, 2024
Countering Wood is fellow lefty Logan Allen who the A’s saw in Oakland on March 29. Allen got the win in that start, but the A’s left their offensive mark with six hits and a pair of home runs. Allen has been knocked around pretty good offensively this season as well, but the difference between him and Wood is that Allen gets the run support to hide it a little better. He’s 2-0 this season despite allowing 23 hits and 12 runs in four starts with a 5.06 ERA. I’d expect an offensive clash this afternoon if I was a betting man.
The Guardians enter Saturday with the third most runs scored offensively in baseball at 112. They also strike out the sixth least in baseball at 153 through 20 games. Vogt and the rest of the coaching staff have turned a B- lineup heading into the season into an A-level product, and below is the lineup he’ll field today:
.@cavs won.
Second league of the doubleheader starts soonish.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/ucPfjVm1sF
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 20, 2024
It’s a new day, and anything can still happen once the two teams cross the white foul lines. A confident win for the A’s would feel like so much more than a regular victory; Cleveland have had Oakland’s number early-on.
See you all later for what’s hopefully a cheerful recap. Enjoy your Saturday!