You have to learn to have a short memory when you play in the major leagues, and there’s no doubt that a player like Gerrit Cole does. Last week, for the first time in 627 days, Cole took the loss in his first poor outing since returning from Tommy John surgery against these same Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium.
Well, at Progressive Field tonight, the 2023 AL Cy Young will look to bounce back. Through three starts, Cole has allowed just four runs in 18 innings, pitching into the sixth in all three outings. His first two outings were brilliant, but he allowed four runs in 5.1 shaky innings last week against Cleveland, allowing a trio of home runs for the first time since July 2024. It’s a hard Cleveland team to strike out, so don’t expect him to pitch like he did against Kansas City, but he should do better this time around.
On the other side, it’s another man who pitched in last week’s series at Yankee Stadium, as Slade Cecconi looks to build on a quality start last week in his 14th start of the season. His overall numbers still look pretty unimpressive, pitching to a 4.92 ERA (84 ERA+) and 4.31 FIP in 67.2 innings, and there wasn’t anything particularly eye-opening about his outing last week. He only struck out four batters and worked quickly against an offense that looked lost without Aaron Judge. With another week down, we’ll see how it goes.
The smoldering hot Trent Grisham leads off once again, followed by Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Spencer Jones gets the start in right field, batting sixth in front of Anthony Volpe, Ryan McMahon, and J.C. Escarra.
Cleveland will use the exact same top four for the fifth game in a row, going Travis Bazzana, José Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Kyle Manzardo. Rhys Hoskins jumps into the lineup, batting fifth, while Angel Martinez, Steven Kwan, and Brayan Rocchio assume the same positions. The only other change is Austin Hedges, who will bat eighth and catch.
How to watch
Location: Progressive Field — Cleveland, OH
First pitch: 6:40 pm ET
TV broadcast: Guardians TV, WKYC3, TBS
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7, WARF 1350, Guardians Radio Network (CLE)
Online stream: Amazon Prime Video, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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