Cal Quantrill pitched six scoreless innings for the Cleveland Guardians during a game with the Houston Astros, allowing his team to win over the opponent 4-1 on Saturday evening.
In addition to Quantrill, Amed Rosario made a two-run single. Jose Ramirez then contributed two hits and one RBI for the Guardians, while Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw each gained two hits.
Quantrill (8-5, 3.88 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) made four strikeouts in a single walk. He managed to win four times consecutively as a starting pitcher. He also maintained his undefeated stance when starting at the home base, Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH.
Astros bench coach Joe Espada praised Quantrill for being “at the top of his game” that night.
“He did a really good job keeping us off-balance,” Espada said. “He got the cutter going, the changeup, the sinker. We just ran into a pitcher executing his pitches.”
First win over Astros at home in years
This was the first time since July 31, 2019, that the Guardians successfully defeated the Astros at their own stadium.
Saturday’s game was the third game in a four-game series between the two teams. The Houston team had won the previous two games with a combined score of 15-3.
Quantrill said that despite the previous losses, the Guardians are “a good team”. The pitcher also conveyed that the Guardians hoped to make it to the playoffs. Quantrill also mentioned his pitching performance that night.
He said, “Today, I made better decisions and decided if I’m going to get beat, I was going to get beat on my best pitches.”
Against Quantrill, the Astros only managed one run past the second past during the first eight innings, courtesy of James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan. Then, Alex Bregman clashed against Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase after Aledmys Diaz made a second double.
Cleveland led the game 4-0 in the second inning against Astros pitcher Luis Garcia. Rosario’s liner to center was highlighted as it enabled Straw and Gimenez to drive in. Ramirez then doubled home Rosario.
Asked about his performance on Saturday evening, Rosario explained that he had to pay attention to all of the small details because preparing for “everything” is important.
“The energy of both (hits and defense) can do so much to help the team,” Rosario added.
Terry Francona, Guardians manager, also made a comment about the game with the Astros. “We strung some hits together against a really good pitcher tonight,” he said.
The Guardians finished second in the AL Central with 55-52, following the Minnesota Twins. Several players are currently on the injury list including Aaron Civale and Cody Morris.
Roster change
Recently, the Guardians shuffled their roster. The team removed designated hitter Franmil Reyes from the 40-man roster and placed him for assignment in the minor league.
Reyes was sent to play at Triple-A Columbus after recording .213 batting average with nine home runs. He also recorded 104 strikeouts in 263 at-bats.
During a game with the Los Angeles Clippers, Reyes had also gone 1 for 11. In exchange for Reyes, the Guardians had released Bobby Bradley from Columbus.