[jksander]

April 8, 2025: Martin Perez (0-0, 18.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 1 K, 3.00 WHIP) made his second start of the season, facing Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (0-2, 3.27 ERA, 11.0 IP, 8 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). We were as shocked as anyone when Tauchman took one out of the park in the top of the first to get us an early lead, but they got the run back in the bottom of the third when a wild pitch let Steven Kwan score from third. Perez hit a wall in the fourth, giving up the go-ahead to Brayan Rocchio with an RBI single, but he asked for a shot at redeeming himself in the fifth and was able to get through the inning with Cleveland’s lead still at just one run. Penn Murfee took over in the sixth, and Shane Smith came out to pitch again in the seventh, They added on in the eighth with an RBI single by Gabriel Arias, but Smith got two strikeouts in a row to get us out of the inning with two runs to make up. With two outs, Miguel Vargas beat out an infield squib to take first safely, but Luis Robert Jr struck out swinging and we lost yet another one, this time 3-1. Perez took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA, getting through five innings with three hits three walks, three strikeouts and two earned runs. We were outhit 6-3, Tauchman’s homer our only offense -- he had a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI to lead the team.
 
April 9, 2025: Sean Burke (0-2, 10.38 ERA, 8.2 IP, 8 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) started against Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (0-0, 4.26 ERA, 6.1 IP, 2 K’s, 1.42 WHIP), and in the top of the second we lost Josh Rojas to an undisclosed injury after he’d doubled in the bottom of the first and scored off an RBI single by Jorge Alfaro, pushing us into the lead 1-0. Brandon Drury took over for him at third to start the bottom of the inning, and we lost the lead with one out on an RBI double by Daniel Schneemann that drove in a pair. Mike Clevinger took over in the bottom of the sixth, still trailing 2-1, and with one out and Gabriel Arias on second in the bottom of the seventh we brought out Justin Anderson ... Brayan Rocchio immediately hit an RBI single to add on a run for the Guardians and we got out of the inning trailing 3-1. That run was the first earned run against Clevinger in 12 innings, giving him a 0.75 ERA. They got a homer from Kyle Manzardo to lead off in the bottom of the eighth, and that pretty much finished it as we lost this one 4-1. No word yet on Rojas’ injury beyond that it was to his knee. Burke took the loss and fell to 0-3 with a 7.24 ERA, though he only allowed three hits, a walk and two runs (one earned) with EIGHT STRIKEOUTS in his five innings. They outhit us 6-4, our only offense coming from Alfaro (a hit and an RBI) and Rojas (a hit and a run).

April 10, 2025: Rojas’ injury details are still pending, and we’ve put him on the 10-day IL while doctors continue to check him out. Our claim on right fielder Sterling Marte from the Mets went through, and he’s come up to take Rojas’ place in the lineup as we head into our final of three against Cleveland. Noah Syndergaard (0-0, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 6 K’s, 1.03 WHIP) pitched against Gavin Williams (1-1, 4.35 ERA, 10.1 IP, 7 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the first with an RBI single by Luis Robert Jr, but he got picked off taking too long a lead and we weren’t able to add on. We did add a run on in the second, when Michael A. Taylor hit an RBI double that drove Mike Tauchman all the way around from first to score, and in the top of the third Starling Marte hit a two-run blast out of right to make it a 4-0 lead! A sac-fly by Cooper Ingle got Cleveland on the board in the bottom of the third, and Syndergaard got out of a real jam in the fourth, bases loaded, but kept them from adding on, still leading 4-1 as we went into the top of the fifth. We were in a tough spot in the bottom of the inning, with Syndergaard at 82 pitches, so we had to bring out Craig Kimbrel to protect the three-run lead ... and tonight he held it well, walking one batter but then getting three quick outs to get us out of there unscathed. With one out and Gabriel Arias on first in the bottom of the sixth we brought out Penn Murfee, who gave up Kimbrel’s run with an RBI double by Brayan Rocchio, cutting our lead to two. He then loaded the bases, and a sac-fly to center by Steven Kwan added another Cleveland run, cutting our lead to one, but we got out of the inning still up 4-3. Tyler Gilbert took over after the seventh inning stretch, and in the eighth with two outs we loaded the bases, adding on a run thanks to a passed ball! Mike Clevinger came out in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run cushion, and Brandon Eisert came out to close in the ninth, shutting them down as we snapped our losing streak with a 5-3 road victory!

Syndergaard had just three hits, three walks, two strikeouts and an earned run in his four innings, but the bullpen had to put in the most work in this one and for once we were successful! Craig Kimbrel improved to 1-0 with a significantly improved ERA of 16.88, pitching 1.1 innings with a hit, a walk, two strikeouts and an earned run. He’s only pitched 2.2 innings so far this year, so if we use him sparingly, he still remains a soild option in the pen when kept on a short leash. Murfee, Gilbert and Clevinger all got holds, and Eisert saved his first game of the year ... he hasn’t given up a run yet in his four appearances.They outhit us 9-8, but Marte delivered with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, including his homer, and Michael A. Taylor had a solid night as well with two hits, a walk and an RBI.

With the eight-game losing streak behind us, we’ll take our 2-10 record back to Chicago for three games against Boston and three against the LA Angels that will get us up to a 10-game road stretch against Boston, Minnesota and the Angels.

INJURY UPDATE: Miguel Rojas is now out for at least three months, as he has been diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon in his knee. We’ve transitioned him to the 60-day IL, and we’re not moving anyone up into the roster at third base as we currently have the ability to use Chase Meidroth alongside alternates Lenyn Sosa and Brandon Drury at the position. But we’re going to miss his offense ... he’d hit .263 ith four doubles and a pair of stolen bases during just 11 games before his injury, and had already put up nearly half a game in WAR.