The Cleveland Guardians bounced back from a series loss to the lowly Chicago White Sox to capture two out of three games on the road against the defending World Series winners, The Texas Rangers.

Monday night’s game was a pitchers’ duel, as Tanner Bibee, Hunter Gaddis, and Nick Sandlin matched zeroes on the scoreboard with Rangers starter Michael Lorenzen. Despite these pitching heroics, the game would end up in a 7-0 rout in favor of Cleveland.

Brayan Rocchio broke the deadlock with an RBI single in the eighth inning. Jose Ramirez added a two-run single, and Texas reliever Jacob Latz let in another run with a wild pitch.

Cleveland tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning on an RBI double from Andres Gimenez and another two-run single from Ramirez.

HERE COME THE BOO BIRDS

Cleveland scored early on Tuesday night, chasing away starter Jack Leiter in a six-run second inning. Bo Naylor drove in two runs with a double, and Gimenez added an RBI single.

Something amazing happened before the inning ended. When Josh Naylor blasted a three-run home run to put Cleveland on top 6-0, the Texas fans started booing their own team!

Did I mention that the Rangers won the World Series last year?

The embarrassed Texas team crawled back into the game with solo home runs by Adolis Garcia, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe. Josh Smith added an RBI single to cut the Guardians’ lead to 6-4.

However, the champs got no closer to victory. Emmanuel Clase slammed the door in the ninth and the Guardians prevailed 7-4.

Cleveland starter Ben Lively was the game’s unsung hero, picking up his second victory. He has been a solid addition to the rotation since Shane Bieber’s season-ending injury.

BACK TO REALITY

You can’t keep a good team down, and Texas broke a five-game losing streak by defeating the Guardians 4-0 last night.  Jon Gray and three Rangers relievers only gave up six harmless singles.

Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco lasted five innings and gave up two runs. He is 2-4 with a 5.16 ERA.

BRING ON THE TWINS

The Guardians are resting up from their road trip before taking on the Minnesota Twins this weekend. Cleveland players will be sporting their new CLE City Connect jerseys on Friday and Sunday.

(Jeff Gorman is a professional baseball announcer who has worked for the Lake Erie Crushers and the Guardian’s minor-league squad, the Lake County Captains.)