Three Positives From the Week of July 19th

This was an impossible task. To find even one positive moment from a week that included five losses in a row was a challenge. Yet, we persist.

Alas, our saving grace of the week. Third baseman José Ramírez returned to the field on Wednesday after being placed on the Injured List with a left hamate fracture on June 14th. The perennial All-Star was not able to attend this year’s Midsummer Classic due to the injury, and the team had definitely been feeling the loss in their games over the past month. While the Guardians have not won a single game since his return, he collected two hits in five at bats in his first game back. Once he’s back in the swing of things, he will hopefully be able to contribute to a lot more wins.

The Guardians hit a season-high seven home runs in Monday’s series opener versus the Minnesota Twins. They were facing Minnesota’s ace, Joe Ryan, until the fifth inning after scoring eight earned runs on ten hits. Six of the team’s seven home runs came against the starter while the Twins’ bullpen gave up four more runs on nine hits. While the Twins also had double-digits in the hit column, the Guards’ pitching staff held them to only four runs. Brayan Rocchio, Rhys Hoskins, Petey Halpin, Travis Bazzana, and Patrick Bailey all had their names on the home run list that night with Halpin and Hoskins claiming two each. It marked the first (and second!) home run(s) of Halpin’s Major League career.

The Guardians and Twins teamed up on Monday to help raise money for the Venezuelan Red Cross in their efforts to assist those affected by the devastating earthquakes. Brayan Rocchio, Ángel Martínez, Gabriel Arias, Jaison Chourio, Stephen Vogt, Carlos Baerga, and Pablo López signed autographs for fans prior to Monday’s game for the price of either a $15 donation to the Venezuelan Red Cross or the donation of non-perishable food or hygiene items. The event raised $27,883 for the Red Cross.

I’m going to do what I do best here and not provide a lot of context for this spotlight. While most will be revealed in an upcoming episode of Caught Lookin’, your favorite ladies of Guardians Twitter got to visit HQ on Wednesday. While the boys couldn’t pull off a win for us, we still had an amazing day!