Michael Kelly made his season debut on Saturday against the Rangers with a three-up, three-down inning with two strikeouts. It was just the fifth career game for Kelly, a 30-year-old rookie, who made his MLB debut last year for the Phillies.
Dating back to 1990, Kelly is just the 14th pitcher to post the following stats in his Cleveland debut:
At least three batters faced
No baserunners allowed
2 or more strikeouts
The other pitchers on the wonderfully random list (* indicates players in their MLB debut):
Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor each homered off Rangers pitcher Jon Gray in the third inning last night. A few fun notes on the accomplishment:
13th pair of brothers to homer in the same game as teammates
First pair of brothers to homer in same game for Cleveland
5th pair of brothers to homer in the same inning as teammates
The most recent occurrences were B.J. and Justin Upton in 2013 and 2014 for the Braves. The Uptons homered in the same game six times and the same inning twice.
Cleveland has been involved in a same-game homer for brothers as opponents. In June 1972, Graig Nettles homered for Cleveland, while Jim Nettles homered for the Twins. And in July 1933, Wes Ferrell homered for Cleveland, while Rick Ferrell homered for the Red Sox (off of Wes) in the top and bottom half of the fourth inning.
Jose Ramirez‘s double off Camilo Doval in the All-Star Game was his fifth career hit in the event, tying Kenny Lofton and Sandy Alomar Jr. for the most in franchise history.
Ramirez went 1-2 in the game, which actually dropped his career ASG batting average to .556, tied for the second highest among players with at least nine at-bats:
Richie Ashburn, .600 (6-10)
Yadier Molina, .556 (5-9)
Ramirez, .556 (5-9)
Moises Alou, .500 (5-10)
Charlie Gehringer, .500 (10-20)
Ted Kluszewski, .500 (7-14)
Former Indians Joe Carter and Leon Wagner (.455 each) are tied for 10th on the list, but neither played in an All-Star Game in a Cleveland uniform.
The next highest to represent Cleveland in the game is Alomar, who checks in at 18th with a .417 average (5-12).
Emmanuel Clase, who was named to the All-Star team for the second consecutive year, matched Joe Borowski‘s team record for saves in the first half with 25.
Josh Naylor closed out the first half with 64 RBI, tied for 27th most in franchise history before the break. Obviously most of the players ahead of him on that list made the All-Star team.
Naylor is the 10th player in franchise history with at least 64 RBI to not be selected to the game. The list:
The Guardians first-round pick last night was Ralphy Velazquez, out of Huntington Beach High School, which has produced 11 major leaguers.
The longest MLB career among graduates was Jack Brohamer, Cleveland’s 34th-round pick in 1967.
Brohamer spent four years as the Indians second baseman in the early 1970s, spent time with the White Sox and Red Sox, and then closed his career back in Cleveland in 1980.
Last night against the Royals, Andres Gimenez became the fifth different Cleveland hitter with a home run and at least three stolen bases in the same game.
Jose Ramirez