The Cleveland Guardians are off to their best start since 1999, but first-year manager Stephen Vogt is taking the early success in stride.
Cleveland sits atop the American League Central at 15-6 and will look for a three-game sweep of the visiting Oakland Athletics when the teams meet Sunday afternoon.
The Guardians beat the A’s 6-3 on Saturday for their sixth victory in their past seven games. Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer and singled in a run to lead Cleveland, which outhit the A’s 14-6.
Naylor is 11-for-33 with three homers and eight RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.
“He’s a great hitter with power,” Vogt said. “He takes walks when he needs to, and when you make a mistake, he can drive it out of the ballpark. That’s what well-rounded hitters do, and (Naylor) is one of them.”
Steven Kwan went 4-for-5 in Saturday’s win and has a hit in all 17 games of his career against the A’s.
Though pleased with his team’s strong start, Vogt said he isn’t looking too far ahead.
“It’s understanding that this is a process,” he said. “This is one day at a time. If we win each day, we’re going to look up at the end of the season and we’re going to have a pretty good record.”
Cleveland will send right-hander Tanner Bibee (1-0, 4.82 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. He received a no-decision after giving up one run over five innings against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Bibee bounced back after yielding five runs over 4 1/3 in his previous outing, vs. the Chicago White Sox on April 10.
Bibee made his season debut against Oakland and allowed three runs over four innings on March 30 — his only career appearance against the Athletics.
The A’s will counter on Sunday with right-hander Ross Stripling (0-4, 5.32 ERA). Stripling, 34, allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. He has given up 32 hits over his first four starts of the year with the A’s.
Naylor is 5-for-6 with a home run against Stripling, who is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in five career games (four starts) against Cleveland.
The Guardians improved to 16-3 against the A’s since the start of the 2021 season after their bullpen combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings on Saturday.
“Their bullpen is good,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “They’ve got guys on the back end that can throw the baseball. When you get to the back end, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Kotsay hopes to use his own best reliever in a save situation in the series finale. A’s closer Mason Miller has four saves and has not allowed a run in his last six games covering eight innings.
The 25-year-old Miller has struck out 17 of the 37 batters he has faced.
“I’ve seen a lot of great closers, and Mason’s got that kind of ability,” A’s third baseman J.D. Davis said. “He’s just electric.”
–Field Level Media
