First-place Guardians 'walking around with extreme confidence' during pennant race

CLEVELAND — The Guardians flashed their bats, arms and gloves in impressive fashion to basically eliminate the Minnesota Twins from playoff contention Friday through Monday at Progressive Field.

And they had fun doing it.

Josh Naylor and Amed Rosario each hit a three-run home run Monday in an 11-4 win that gave the American League Central Division-leading Guardians their ninth victory in their past 10 games against the Twins.

The Guardians (80-67) won the season series with 13 victories and six loses to drop the Twins (73-74) seven games behind in the standings.

They've got the power:Josh Naylor, Amed Rosario hit home runs to lead Guardians to victory over Twins

“We have a very loose, young atmosphere,” Guardians center fielder Myles Straw said Monday after hitting a triple, walking twice and scoring three runs.

“We have fun every day, whether we are playing baseball or we are in the clubhouse. We are very close as a team, which makes coming here a lot better. We just enjoy every day, win or lose. We just have fun playing baseball. We love each other and the atmosphere — I think every single person here enjoys coming to the baseball field every day, which makes your season and your team much better overall.”

Hitting machine:Amed Rosario gets eight hits in Guardians' doubleheader sweep of Twins

The Guardians won four out of the five games in the series against the Twins, including a 4-3 victory Friday and a doubleheader sweep on Saturday with 5-1 and 7-6 triumphs.

“We are playing really good baseball,” said pitcher Cal Quantrill, who threw 5⅓ innings and allowed three earned runs and nine hits Monday to improve to 13-5.

“We knew these last two series against the Twins were important. We played our best baseball so far this year I think, and we are kind of doing it in all facets of the game. We are excited. We will head to Chicago here and hopefully have a good series there and close this thing out.

“... It was important for us to show what we’re capable of in a playoff atmosphere. These last eight games against the Twins, every game matters, but unfortunately once you get to September some games just matter more. These last eight games against the Twins mattered more. I thought that we knew it, they knew it and we showed up and we showed what we can do in big moments. It bodes well for these next couple weeks. The boys really took this challenge seriously and rose to the occasion.”

Quality pitching:Guardians starter Shane Bieber on 2020-esque hot streak; Kirk McCarty saves the day (morning)

Rosario went 11-for-25 in the five-game series with two home runs and 11 RBIs before catching a flight to Chicago with his teammates Monday night for a three-game series against the second-place White Sox (76-71) Tuesday through Thursday. The Guardians lead the White Sox by four games and winning the series would put the Guardians in command in the division.

“I think everyone is taking this in stride and enjoying it,” said Aaron Civale, the Guardians scheduled starting pitcher on Tuesday.

“This is what we all have worked so hard for, to be able to be at this point in the season and do it together. All of us have been playing baseball for as long as we can remember. Everyone is enjoying what we have got going right now and hopefully we can continue to ride those feelings.

“... The maturity level is here, but there is also definitely a sense of having fun. Everyone is taking advantage of the position we are in and respecting the opportunity that is in front of them and not backing down from it. I think that is a cool thing. Nobody is playing timid. Nobody is walking around timid. Everyone is walking around with extreme confidence and it is really cool to see.”

Postseason baseball in Cleveland again?: Youthful Guardians unfazed by playoff race, close games

The Guardians wasted little time Monday. Naylor smacked his three-run homer 413 feet over the right-field in the first inning off of Sonny Gray. Naylor reached base three other times via a hit by a pitch, double and walk.

“He brings the energy every day,” Quantrill said of Naylor. “Nayls obviously went through a pretty tough injury last year and it’s been awesome seeing him come back from that and really living up to what we all believed he could do. He’s a good teammate. I think that he plays with a lot of passion. It comes out however it comes out, but today was a great day for him. Got us off to a good start, and I think we’re going to continue to need that energy down the stretch here.”

Rosario’s three-run line drive homer off of Ronny Henriquez in the sixth cleared the left-field fence and traveled 382 feet. Rosario reached base three other times with a fielder’s choice, a walk and a single and scored three runs.

Rosario had four hits in both games against the Twins on Saturday, joining Earl Averill (1933) and Nap Lajoie (1910) as the only Cleveland players to have two four-hit games on the same day.

“He’s a freak,” Straw said of Rosario. “He’s an unbelievable hitter. He can catch you, he’ll get you with the long ball, get you with the triple, he can single you to death, I mean, he’s just a pure hitter. He knows how to hit. He’s always hit in his career. He’s a really good player."

Luke Maile contributed a 397 foot solo home run to left field off of Jorge Lopez in the eighth.

'He's a fireball': As Jose Ramirez goes, so go the Guardians as they chase AL Central crown

Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez each added two hits and an RBI Monday.

“The biggest thing is our style of play,” said Triston McKenzie, the Guardians scheduled starting pitcher on Wednesday.

“I feel like we don’t necessarily change depending on who we are playing. When we are out in L.A. playing or when we are playing in division against the Twins, K.C., the White Sox or the Tigers, I think we find comfort in finding that we can play the same game against those big-market teams or those teams that are not necessarily in our division, and we can win baseball games.”

McKenzie added he knows how important these games in September are, and that he and his teammates “are coming in to win.”

Another rookie in Cleveland:Guardians promote pitcher Carlos Vargas to major league roster

Cal Quantrill remains perfect at home

Quantrill improved to 13-0 at Progressive Field, matching Charles Nagy (July 3, 1995-June 21, 1996) for the longest pitcher win streak in ballpark history. In 42 games (32 starts) in Cleveland, he has a 2.95 ERA.

Quantrill is one four MLB pitchers since 1901 to have a record of 13-0 or better in a ballpark, joining Vic Raschi (14-0, Comiskey Park in Chicago, 1947-1955), Chief Bender (13-0, Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, 1903-1908) and Whitey Ford (13-0, Griffith Stadium in Washington, 1950-1961).

“I don’t really know the exact numbers, but I do like pitching at home,” Quantrill said with a smile. “I guess I don’t want to jinx anything. It’s been good. It’s been fun.”

First save for Sam Hentges

Sam Hentges earned his first career save Monday by pitching 2⅓ scoreless innings after entering the game with two outs in the seventh and the Guardians ahead 7-4.

“I actually didn’t even know it was a save until I came back into the locker room,” said Hentges, who grew up in Shoreview, Minnesota. “Yeah, we’ll take that one.”

The man for the job:From top to bottom, Guardians view Terry Francona as right manager to lead youthful roster

Terry Francona pleased with young players

Guardians manager Terry Francona was happy with Naylor and Rosario’s home runs, and that Hentges closed out the game so that setup man James Karinchak and closer Emmanuel Clase (AL high 36 saves) will be fresh for the series in Chicago.

“I want us to care about today and then learn and move on,” Francona said. “Don’t get too full of yourself if you won, don’t drag your head if you lost. Show up tomorrow and let's see if we can do it again, but because of how they have played, these games, I mean, they’re fun, man. This is why these guys work so hard and it’s a first for a lot of them.”

Speed on the bases for the Guardians

Rosario swiped two bases Monday to give him 16 stolen bases this season. He joined Gimenez (18), Straw (18), Ramirez (17) and Kwan (15) to give Cleveland five players with 15 or more stolen bases for the first time since 1919.

That 1919 team played its home games at League Park, and featured six players who accomplished the feat: Doc Johnston (21 stolen bases), Tris Speaker (19), Bill Wambsganss (18), Ray Chapman (18) and Elmer Smith (15).

Johnston, Speaker, Wambsganss, Chapman and Smith all played on the 1920 Cleveland team that won the World Series, but Chapman passed in August of that year after being hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays.

Speaker was the player-manager in 1920, Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history and Wambsganss completed the only unassisted triple play in World Series history.

First-place Guardians rally to win:Ernie Clement scores on wild pitch from second base to cap rally against Twins

Zach Plesac update

Francona said Zach Plesac, out with a broken bone in his right hand since late August, might pitch with the Columbus Clippers on Tuesday.

“They’re in Toledo, so it’s not a home game,” Francona said. “We would like him and he would like to do a sim game so we can control, maybe have three innings of 15 pitches, but control the intensity. When you’re on the road in the Triple-A environment, we’ve got to make sure we get the field. So, if they can’t, then he’ll pitch in the game.”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: First-place Guardians "walking around with extreme confidence"