Josh Naylor went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs and Steven Kwan scored four runs and had three RBIs as the Cleveland Guardians cruised to a 12-3 blowout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday in Phoenix.
Cleveland came into the contest tied for the third-fewest runs per game (3.79) in the major leagues. But the Guardians’ bats came alive early and often against veteran right-hander Zach Davies.
The Guardians cashed in for two runs in the first inning on an RBI triple down the right field line by Jose Ramirez and Naylor’s run-scoring double to right.
Will Brennan and Myles Straw singled and both raced home on a triple to the right-center-field gap by Kwan in the second. Amed Rosario followed with a sacrifice fly that bumped Cleveland’s lead to 5-0.
The Guardians broke the game open in the fourth, as they batted around while tallying six hits.
Kwan started the rally with an RBI on a fielder’s choice, and with two out, Naylor drove home Kwan with a single, ending the afternoon for Davies.
Jose Ruiz relieved Davies, but the Guardians kept their foot on the gas. Andres Gimenez greeted Ruiz with a two-run triple and Tyler Freeman added an RBI double before Brennan’s run-scoring single stretched Cleveland’s lead to 11-1. Naylor drove in Kwan with a single in the fifth for a 12-1 lead.
Making his 10th career start, Cleveland rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee allowed a 416-foot homer to Christian Walker in the second. Walker added a two-run double off Bibee in the fifth, which cut the Guardians’ lead to 12-3.
Bibee threw 105 pitches over five innings with six strikeouts and improved to 3-2 with a 4.05 ERA. Davies (1-3) allowed nine hits and nine runs (eight earned) in 3 2/3 innings, with his ERA ballooning to 7.11.
The 12 runs matched a season high for Cleveland.
The game was delayed for 15 minutes when a bank of lights went out over the outfield with two outs in the bottom of the first.
–Field Level Media
