The Cleveland Guardians made the most of their offense to capture the opener of their three-game series against the host Philadelphia Phillies.
Winners of three of their past four games, the Guardians will bid for a series victory on Saturday night when the top teams in the American League and National League continue their set.
Cleveland strung together nine hits — all singles — and Bo Naylor delivered a run-scoring sacrifice bunt in a 3-1 victory on Friday. The Guardians also stole two bases and delivered in the clutch, with David Fry and Angel Martinez each recording a two-out RBI single.
“We’ve been getting hits, right? We just haven’t been getting the big hit — and we got two big hits tonight,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “It continues for our guys. Stay the course. We don’t have to change a thing. Let’s play our brand of baseball.”
Fry told Bally Sports Cleveland, “It’s awesome. It’s who we are. We’re laying down bunts, we’re stealing bases, creating havoc. I feel like when we’re at our best, it’s what we do.”
Philadelphia hasn’t been at its best in a while. The Phillies fell for the seventh time in 10 games on Friday despite Bryson Stott highlighting his three-hit performance with a homer to lead off the fifth inning.
Guardians veteran Carlos Carrasco (3-8, 5.32 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday night opposite Phillies rookie Tyler Phillips (2-0, 2.81) in a battle of right-handers.
Carrasco dropped his second straight decision on Monday after allowing six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of an 8-2 setback to the Detroit Tigers.
Carrasco, 37, is 3-1 with a 3.51 ERA in six career appearances (four starts) vs. Philadelphia. He may find himself facing the newest Phillie, Austin Hays, who was acquired by Philadelphia from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday for struggling right-hander Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache.
“We’ve liked Hays for a few years,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said. “I actually tried to acquire him the last two trading deadlines and we’ve been asked for much more than we wanted to give. … I know he hasn’t played all that much this year, he’s gotten squeezed out, we feel, from some playing time by all the good young outfielders they have.”
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson dismissed the idea of Hays sharing time in the outfield.
“I do not see him as (involved in) a platoon to tell you the truth,” Thomson said. “This guy’s an All-Star last year. For whatever reason, I don’t know Baltimore’s situation, he wasn’t playing every single day. I think that maybe affected his numbers a little bit.”
Phillips recorded his second straight win on Sunday while making his third career appearance (second start) after being called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on July 5. He scattered four hits over six scoreless innings in a 6-0 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Phillips, 26, has yet to face Cleveland in his young career.
