The Cleveland Guardians continue their west coast swing on Saturday night in Seattle, against the Mariners. Both teams have playoff aspirations this season with Cleveland leading the AL Central Division while the Mariners currently own the third and final wildcard spot in the American League. On the mound on Saturday night will be righty Zach Plesac (2-11, 4.43) of the Guardians vs. fellow righty Luis Castillo (5-5, 2.43) of the Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10pm EST.
The Cleveland Guardians continue their push towards a first-place finish in the crowded top of the AL Central Division. The Guardians have recently put together a solid streak and have put some distance between themselves and the Twins and White Sox, both tied for second place entering play on Friday night. The Guardians impressively took both games of a short, two-game series in San Diego before heading into Seattle on Thursday afternoon. The Mariners took the opener 3-1 behind a solid pitching performance by Marco Gonzales. On Friday night, Cleveland dropped their second-straight close one to the Mariners, 3-2, in 11-innings. The Guardians' offense has been slowed in each of the first two games with just three runs total.
Did not like this.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/45oMkdlGmm
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 25, 2022
The Guardians have flourished at the top of the AL Central standings thanks to one of the best rotations in the American League. Since the all-star break, the Guardians have thrown 14 quality starts in 33 games and have an impressive 3.23 team ERA in that time. In addition, in the last 20 games, they have had 13 of those 14 quality starts as the team's starting pitching has carried the load while the offense has slowed down a bit. On Saturday, the Guardians will turn to 27-year old right-hander Zach Plesac. Plesac is just 2-11 on the season and has struggled more so as of late. In his last five starts, Plesac is 0-4 with an ERA of 5.88. He has allowed 30 hits in 28 innings pitched and given up four home runs over that span. Plesac has not yet faced Seattle this season.