Lane Thomas is finally showing why the Cleveland Guardians went out and acquired the talented outfielder from the Washington Nationals on July 29.
Thomas is proving to be a key addition for the Guardians, who continue their three-game series against the host Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
Thomas and Josh Naylor each homered and Gavin Williams tossed seven strong innings in a 4-2 victory on Monday as the Guardians handed the Royals their season-high sixth straight loss.
Kansas City (75-64) was held to two hits and fell 4 1/2 games behind American League Central division-leading Cleveland (79-59). The Royals have scored two runs in each of their past four games.
Thomas is 10-for-26 (.385) over his past 10 games after recording four hits in his previous 55 at-bats.
“Lane got off to a slow start with us, but he’s a great player,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “He’s going to be a big part of us moving forward. He’s been swinging the bat really well the last few games. He’s getting more aggressive, which is great.”
Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro missed the game Monday due to a personal matter. Bench coach Paul Hoover, who filled in for the series opener, remained optimistic amid the team’s skid.
“It’s been the same all year,” Hoover said. “They’re a resilient bunch in there, and they’re going to continue to fight. It stinks that we’ve lost a couple of games, but they’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
The matchup Tuesday features a pair of right-handers as Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (10-6, 3.65 ERA) faces Kansas City’s Brady Singer (9-9, 3.36).
The 25-year-old Bibee is looking to finish the season strong after going 1-2 with a 4.64 ERA in four starts last month. Bibee allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings in a no-decision against the Royals on Wednesday. He allowed three homers in the contest.
Bobby Witt Jr. is 3-for-11 with a home run against Bibee, who is 1-0 with a 4.29 ERA in four career starts vs. Kansas City.
The Guardians are facing Singer for the second time this season. He allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision against Cleveland on June 6. Singer, 28, received a no-decision after giving up two runs in six innings against the Houston Astros on Thursday.
“Felt good,” Singer said. “I felt like the sinker had a lot of movement, and I threw it to my glove side a lot more. And the slider was the pitch. It worked well.”
Jose Ramirez has enjoyed success against Singer, going 12-for-25 with three homers and 10 RBIs. Singer is 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA in 13 career games (12 starts) versus Cleveland.
Singer faces a tough matchup against the deep Guardians lineup, which recorded five extra-base hits in the series opener.
“I’ll put our lineup up there with anybody,” Vogt said. “For us, it’s about 1 through 9 contributing, and we did that today … all of our guys are capable of adding to this offense and helping drive it. We believe in all of them, and that’s why we play everybody.”
–Field Level Media
