CLEVELAND, OH--- Triston McKenzie's homecoming wouldn't be a positive one, as the Guardians would fall to the Orioles 5-1 with McKenzie only pitching a little over an inning after struggling with his command. McKenzie was coming off of the 60 day IL only pitching 2 games in the 2023 season. McKenzie would give up 3 runs on 1 hit and 6 walks.
McKenzie gave up all 3 of his runs in the 2nd inning, the first coming from a Jordan Westburg RBI double. The next 2 runs would come from a Jorge Mateo groundout to a diving Andres Gimenez, and 1 of 6 walks to Anthony Santander with the bases loaded. McKenzie would throw over 30 pitches in the 2nd inning, not exactly what Tito was looking for as he was already eyeing a 80 pitch limit coming into Sunday afternoon. The next 2 runs for Baltimore would come from two of their star players, Adley Rutschman would hit a double in the 4th inning, then Cedric Mullins would hit a single in the 5th. The Guardians lone run came thanks to a Kole Calhoun groundout with Jose Ramirez on 3rd base.
The Guardians are off Monday, but will start their last series at Progressive Field in 2023 against the Cincinnati Reds, first pitch is set for 6:10, you can hear it on your flagship Newsradio WTAM 1100 AM 106.9 FM, the free iHeartRadio app, and HERE