It would have been more exciting if the Cleveland Guardians had won today’s game, but at the end of the day it was beautiful outside and we got to watch a game, right?

Cleveland’s offense fizzled on the heels of last night’s outburst as the Guardians fell to the Chicago White Sox 5-2. While some hitters punished Sox pitchers the rest of the offense stagnated.

Triston McKenzie allowed three runs in two and a third innings before yielding to the bullpen. Cleveland — shutout by White Sox starter Lucas Giolito through six — scored in the seventh and eighth innings.

Look, it’d be a lot cooler if the Guardians had won, but at least Billy Hamilton stole home!

It’s getting a little bit tough to find interesting and fun ways to recap meaningless September games. That’s not a complaint — I remain delighted to be able to do this on Sundays. I’m just not sure how much more I can analyze a young team that played like one.

That is one way to view this team; another is that several starting pitchers, an improving Josh Naylor, and the manager missed much of the season. Despite those challenges, one of the youngest teams in baseball still battled to somewhere near .500.

I feel like it’s been a tough year for silver linings, but I’m going to take this one.

Our standout performer on the day was Myles Straw. The presumptive starting CF for next year slapped four hits and reached on an error while continuing to play swanky defense. That combined with a .350 OBP in the leadoff spot is also a nice, comforting balm after another September loss.

Corner Pieces

• Harold Ramirez poked a home run off the top of the right field wall in the 8th inning. While the distance may not have been impressive there are no cheap home runs off of Craig Kimbrel.
• In the bottom of the ninth, Liam Hendriks swiped at a comebacker and nearly snared it. It ricocheted to Tim Anderson, who fielded it and fired to first for the out.
• Anthony Gose pitched again! He tossed a scoreless fifth inning and struck out two, surrendering one hit. Rejoice.
• DeMarlo Hale gave an honest if slightly blunt appraisal of McKenzie’s performance today. Asked about the starter’s performance, Hale immediately noted lack of command as the primary issue. McKenzie walked three today, further exacerbating the unusual number of walks that he has yielded to the White Sox, specifically. i dunno it could just be bad juju you guys...

On a serious note: it’s always fascinated me to see how managers handle questions about a player's performance. I think there is something to be said for a guy who just tells you what he thinks, but then again I don’t run baseball teams.

Wait, What?

The score read 4-2 for a hot minute in the seventh inning. José Ramírez grounded into what was, at first, a fielder’s choice. He appeared to leg out the backend of a would-be double play as Oscar Mercado scampered home from third. Upon further review, New York declared Ramírez out and the run void as the out ended the inning.

What’s Next?

Cleveland and Kansas City play a make-up game starting at 1:10 tomorrow afternoon.