Game Recap 6/30/23 | Guardians Lose 10-1 vs. Cubs

Observations from the Game

3 things about Guardians’ 10-1 loss to Chicago Cubs:

1 – Cal Quantrill 

Cal’s arm felt great but the results of his first start coming off the IL were terrible. There are going to have to be some tough decisions and moves to think through before his next scheduled start!

2 – Lost Opportunity in 1st Inning 

Guards had every chance in the first inning to put pressure on the Cubs with runners on first and second with no outs against Justin Steele. Jose Ramirez stuck out swinging, Josh Bell struck out swinging, and finally, Andres Gimenez, as he has been doing as of late, grounded out weakly to third base forcing out Tyler Freeman. Opportunity and game over basically from that point on.

3 – Fry Joins the Relief Crew 

Looking for a positive from this game? David Fry was brought in with the game being a blowout to pitch the 8th inning. His pitching stats: 1 Inning Pitched, 0 Runs Allowed, 8 Total Pitches with 5 Strikes, and now has an ERA of 0.00!

Game Summary

Justin Steele tossed a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning and won his third straight start, and the Chicago Cubs snapped a four-game skid with a 10-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Christoper Morel hit a two-run homer and finished with three RBIs, and Nick Madrigal added a solo homer in Chicago’s 13-hit attack.

Nico Hoerner had three hits, and two RBIs, and reached base four times while extending his hitting streak to nine games. Jared Young drove in two runs with his second triple in two games and finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Terry Francona was back managing the Guardians following a health scare that led to him being hospitalized in Kansas City and missing three games.

Will Brennan hit a solo homer in the ninth inning for Cleveland, which entered tied for first in the AL Central. The Guardians lost their second straight to fall to 39-42.

Steele (9-2) struck out six and walked one in 6 1/3 innings as he lowered his ERA to 2.43. The left-hander didn’t allow a hit until David Fry lined a short-hop single off shortstop Dansby Swanson’s glove to lead off the fifth.

Three Cubs relievers followed to finish a five-hitter.

Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill (2-5) lasted only 3 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. The right-hander hasn’t won since May 7.

The 64-year-old Francona, who missed significant time in the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to poor health, became lightheaded before Tuesday’s game against the Royals. He spent one night at The University of Kansas Health System.

He rejoined the Guardians for Thursday’s series finale but remained in his office because of excessive heat at Kauffman Stadium.

The first two Cleveland hitters reached on a walk and a throwing error by Steele. The lefty then retired 12 straight before Swanson couldn’t snag Fry’s skipping liner.

The Cubs jumped ahead 2-0 in the third on Hoerner’s bases-loaded single up the middle. Chicago added four runs in the fourth.

Young’s triple to the right-field corner in the fourth scored two runs to make it 4-0. Mike Tauchman’s single up the middle scored Young to increase the lead to 5-0 and chase Quantrill. Morel’s sacrifice fly to the left-field wall capped the rally.

The Cubs iced it with three runs the sixth on Madrigal’s and Morel’s homers.

Up Next

Saturday 7/1 7:15 PM EST – Game 2 of 3 at Cubs