The Cleveland Guardians are in the thick of a playoff push, and Jo Adell couldn’t be happier.
Adell will look to continue his torrid hitting on Friday when the Guardians face the Athletics in the opener of the final home series of the regular season in Cleveland
The Guardians (78-75) won the final two contests of their three-game series against visiting Chicago this week, temporarily moving a half-game ahead of the White Sox in the American League Central. However, Chicago (78-75) defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Thursday to pull back into a tie for first.
Adell belted a two-run homer in the Guardians’ 7-6 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday and added a two-run single in Cleveland’s 6-3 win on Wednesday.
“He’s having fun,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said of Adell, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels prior to the trade deadline. “Playing winning baseball, playing meaningful games in September, you look at someone like that who’s rarely done that. It’s fun. It gets taken for granted when you get to do it often. We don’t take it for granted at all. This is special.
“When you’re playing meaningful games in September, it means something.”
That has been evident of late, as Adell has hit safely in eight of his past nine games.
“You want to be in an environment where you’re playing September baseball that means something,” Adell said. “I’m just really excited and glad I could help these guys and be here for it.”
Daniel Espino (0-0, 2.92 ERA) will take the mound for the Guardians against the Athletics’ Mason Barnett (1-4, 7.08) on Friday in a battle of 25-year-old rookie right-handers.
Espino will make his 12th career appearance and second start overall on Friday, four days after allowing a solo homer as the lone hit he surrendered in one-third of an inning during a no-decision against the White Sox. He will be facing the A’s for the first time in his career.
Barnett was moved from the Athletics’ bullpen to the rotation in late July, but he went 0-3 with a 10.69 ERA in four starts. After he permitted six runs in 2 2/3 innings during a loss to the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 17, he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
The A’s will recall him for the Friday start, which will be his first career appearance against the Guardians.
The Athletics (61-92) have limped out of the blocks to begin their six-game road trip. They were outscored 16-5 in a three-game series sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lawrence Butler belted a solo homer in the sixth inning in the Athletics’ 10-1 setback on Thursday afternoon. The homer was Butler’s 17th of the season and fourth in his past six games.
Butler’s blast aside, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay wasn’t too keen on what he saw from his charges in the series finale at St. Petersburg, Fla.
“The moral of today is we played sloppy defense,” he said. “We walked, I stopped counting at one point (nine). We had a hit batter. So any time you’re gonna play like that against a team, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.”
–Field Level Media
