*Photo from MLB.com*
Break out the brooms. Andres Gimenez drove in 3 runs, Alex Cobb shined on the mound, and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago Cubs with a 6-1 victory Wednesday night in Cleveland.
The Guardians secured the 3 game sweep of the Cubs and increased their winning streak to 5 games with the win. At 72-49, they have the best record in the AL and are particularly dominant at home, with a 38-20 record at Progressive Field.
After the first 3 innings were scoreless, the Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning. Cody Bellinger got the Cubs on the board with a sac fly that scored Seiya Suzuki. In the bottom of the inning, Josh Naylor tied the game with an RBI double that scored Jose Ramirez. Naylor then scored on an RBI single by Gimenez to make it 2-1 Guardians.
Will Brennan extended the Guardians lead in the 5th inning with a triple to right field that scored Steven Kwan. Brennan then scored on a groundout by Jose Ramirez to make it a 4-1 lead for the Guardians. It stayed that way until the 8th inning when Ramirez and Lane Thomas scored on a two run double by Gimenez.
Making both his second start of the season and with the Guardians, Alex Cobb got his first win in nearly a year by allowing one run on 3 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Nick Sandlin pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Tim Herrin and Scott Barlow pitched a scoreless inning each to seal the win.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said Cobb's start was "One of the biggest outings of the year for us. We needed him to go deep based off where the bullpen was. He was outstanding. That was a really, really big outing from him."
Getting the start for the Cubs was Jameson Taillon, who allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and two walks in 6 innings, striking out 6 hitters. Tyson Miller worked one scoreless inning before Julian Merryweather allowed a pair of runs in one inning.
Taillon said after the game "All that matters is where you're at in the standings and who’s in front of you. We were definitely, at one point, pretty far under, and we’re clawing back. And I feel like that’s a sign that we’ve been playing a lot better baseball. But, we lost three. Now, we have to punch back. It feels like that’s kind of been the story of the season. So, hopefully we can punch back and not turn these three into something bigger."
Both teams have Thursday off before starting their weekend series. The Guardians hit the road to face the Milwaukee Brewers, with Gavin Williams starting the series opener. The Cubs welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to town, with Kyle Hendricks set to make the start.
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