Carlos Santana and Daniel Schneemann are providing quite the power surge for the Cleveland Guardians.
The duo looks to remain hot on Wednesday afternoon as the Guardians and host Washington Nationals play the rubber match of their three-game series.
Santana continues to pay dividends after signing a one-year, $12 million contract in December. The 39-year-old collected four hits during Tuesday’s doubleheader and has two homers and six RBIs in his last five games overall.
“I know my team needs me, so I try to have fun,” Santana said, per Cleveland.com. “My approach has been one day at a time, thinking one day at a time, playing hard, preparing and trying to help the team win.”
He did precisely that in the second game of the doubleheader.
Santana belted a three-run homer and Schneemann went deep for the third time in four games in Cleveland’s 9-1 romp on Tuesday. The Guardians, who dropped a 10-9 decision in the first game, are 6-2 in their last eight contests overall.
“Hitting the slider out, that’s been one of the big things,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Schneemann. “We know (Schneemann) hits fastballs, but he’s starting to really make good adjustments on off-speed.”
Austin Hedges also homered in the nightcap.
“Hedgie leads the dugout, leads the team and he can hit,” Vogt said. “He had two really good swings tonight. He’s been swinging the bat, getting on base, doing his thing and it was really cool to get a homer, like a little baseball gods’ little tip of the cap.”
Nationals manager Dave Martinez wasn’t going to let his team’s lopsided loss get him down. The setback, after all, came on the heels of the team’s three-game winning streak.
“This year, they believe that they can win. They can. You’ve seen it,” Martinez said. “I’m not going to harp on them. It’s been a couple long days, and we’ve got a chance to win another series tomorrow. We’ve been playing well.”
Cleveland left-hander Logan Allen (1-2, 4.02 ERA) will take the mound on Wednesday afternoon against Washington right-hander Michael Soroka (0-1, 7.20), who is expected to be activated off the 15-day injured list.
Allen saw his winless stretch extend to three starts on Friday despite allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision against the Toronto Blue Jays.
He’s permitted two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five trips to the mound.
Allen, 26, has yet to face the Nationals in his career.
Soroka is returning to the mound for Washington for the first time since sustaining a strained right biceps on March 31.
He fared well in his latest rehab assignment for Triple-A Rochester, allowing one run while striking out 11 batters.
“I felt pretty good,” Soroka said, per MASN. “Everything was coming out pretty good and I can’t complain about that. Ultimately, we got to the full pitch count. Yeah, I felt really good.”
Soroka, 27, is 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA in three career starts against Cleveland.
–Field Level Media
