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<\/p>\nCLEVELAND \u2014 Cleveland\u2019s ball tossers put a decided kink in the White Stockings\u2019 pennant gait at the South Side park this afternoon and accomplished the work in such a manner that it was little short of slaughter. The result administered a severe jolt to the enthusiasm of the big crowd that witnessed the game, which, after the second inning, when Chicago had two runs to the visitors\u2019 goose eggs, had settled down to the conviction that the Comiskeyites were going to have another day of easy sailing and win the game as they liked.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the dispatch from The Plain Dealer on April 28, 1901, the day after Cleveland\u2019s brand-new baseball franchise won its first game.<\/p>\n
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Cleveland wins later, this is what happened:<\/p>\n
San Diego\u2019s ball tossers hurled the orb with too much whimsy and a pair of Cleveland batsmen scuttled home from their respective bases with nary a ball placed in play to create an advantage too insurmountable for even the recently tortuous home team bullpen to relinquish.<\/p>\n
Or, in simpler terms: Cleveland captured the 10,000th win in franchise history on Saturday night, highlighted by Steven Kwan and Chase DeLauter scoring on a double steal and some sloppy Padres defense. They\u2019re the 11th franchise to join the 10,000-win club, but eight of those teams started in the 1800s. The American League launched in 1901, and Cleveland is the third franchise from that league \u2014 behind the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox \u2014 to reach No. 10,000.<\/p>\n
They stand at 10,000-9,508 overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to remember all the wins,\u201d said team president Chris Antonetti, \u201cbut I feel like I\u2019ve been here for every one of the losses. It\u2019s just the way my brain works.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll wait until the impending lockout to rank each win, 1 through 10,000.<\/p>\n
Maybe the pressure of reaching No. 10,000 forced the Guardians into their recent funk. (Not really.) It certainly took them a while to knock out those final few victories. Before No. 10,000, the Guardians had dropped five of six, eight of 10, 10 of 13 and 16 of 21.<\/p>\n
If it feels like the Guardians need 10,000 more wins in the next six weeks, it\u2019s because the White Sox have started to pull away in the AL Central. (Sorry, that should read: The White Stockings\u2019 pennant gait is decidedly gaining steam, like an almighty locomotive chugging along the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.)<\/p>\n
Do trade deadline deals lead to World Series rings?<\/p>\n
Joe Crisalli<\/p>\n
The race for the third AL Wild Card spot, though, is a convoluted mess. Seven teams are vying for the last berth, and six of them are separated by 1 1\/2 games. That, of course, includes the 60-65 Guardians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to play better baseball,\u201d Antonetti said. \u201cWe have not played well over the last few weeks and I think everybody believes we\u2019re capable of more. But we need to put it together and play more consistent games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the All-Star break, the Guardians are 1-7-1 in their nine series.<\/p>\n
Pirates: lost two of three
Twins: split four games
Rays: lost all three
Reds: won two of three
Diamondbacks: lost two of three
Mets: lost all three
White Sox: lost two of three
Tigers: lost two of three
Padres: lost two of three<\/p>\n
For a palate cleanser, here are three bright spots \u2026<\/p>\n
Parker Messick\u2019s next start will come Wednesday, on his 365th day in the big leagues. So far, so good: 31 starts, 182 innings, 180 strikeouts, a 2.62 ERA, an All-Star Game nod and Cy Young Award ballot contention in his first full season.<\/p>\n
In those 31 starts, he has allowed:<\/p>\n
0 runs: four times
1 run: 12 times
2 runs: eight times
3 runs: three times
4 runs: four times<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t hit a wall, despite cruising past his career-high in innings. In fact, he continues to showcase greater fastball velocity.<\/p>\n
Average fastball velocity by month:<\/p>\n
April: 93.6 mph
May: 94.0 mph
June: 94.2 mph
July: 94.6 mph
August: 95.0 mph<\/p>\n
Since the start of July, he has allowed one earned run in five of his starts and two earned runs in two. (The Guardians are 3-4 in those outings.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Parker Messick has improved as the season has progressed, despite blowing past his career-high in innings pitched. (Rick Osentoski \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Speaking of increased velocity, Cade Smith has tossed the 39 fastest pitches of his big-league career since July 8. Coincidentally, he owns a 0.61 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 14 2\/3 innings in that span.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s his average fastball velocity by month:<\/p>\n
April: 96.5 mph
May: 96.8 mph
June: 97.1 mph
July: 98.2 mph
August: 99.0 mph<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s 38 pitches Wednesday in Detroit marked a career high, and he hit 100.0 mph on No. 29, 99.7 mph on No. 36 and 99.4 mph on No. 38.<\/p>\n
He topped out at 100.8 mph on Aug. 5, when New York Mets infielder Jorge Polanco whiffed so hard on the heater down the middle that his helmet popped off.<\/p>\n
Smith said he\u2019s not consciously trying to throw harder, and he\u2019s certainly not fresher three-quarters of the way into the season, even if his workload has been spottier in recent weeks because of the team\u2019s overall struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always mechanical work, trying to refine things and make sure things are being as efficient as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Through June 30, Kwan ranked 153rd out of 154 qualified hitters with a .575 OPS.<\/p>\n
Since July 1 (and entering Sunday), Kwan ranks fourth out of 171 qualified hitters with a .969 OPS, just ahead of Seiya Suzuki, CJ Abrams and Pete Crow-Armstrong.<\/p>\n
Kwan has morphed from one of the least productive hitters in the league to one of the most proficient. He ranks second in the league in wRC+ (a metric that measures a hitter\u2019s ability to create runs), behind only Astros slugger and AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez.<\/p>\n