CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Steven Kwan had the gall to strike out Thursday afternoon against the Mariners. The rare event happened in the third inning of the Guardians’ 6-3 win at Progressive Field.
The strikeout ended his MLB-leading streak of 44 straight plate appearances without a strikeout. He has 15 strikeouts and 19 walks in 46 games.
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Regarding the two other streaks in Kwan’s possession, they continued. He took care of them both with one swing of the bat. If you were late getting to your seat on Thursday, you may have missed it.
Kwan started the first inning by lining Luis Castillo’s third pitch of the game over right fielder Mitch Haniger’s head and off the right field wall. The hit extended Kwan’s hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 25 games.
The Gold Glove left fielder also moved closer to qualifying for the AL batting title race. A player needs to average 3.1 plate appearances per team game to qualify for the batting, on-base and slugging percentage titles. Kwan, who missed four weeks with a strained left hamstring, is gaining ground on that number.
Right now Kwan is averaging 2.90 plate appearances through the Guardians 72 games. In his 46 starts, however, he has 209 plate appearances, an average of 4.5 per game. If he continues at that pace, Kwan could average 3.1 plate appearances by the Guards’ 83rd game. Playing time and performance, of course, could alter that schedule.
Kwan enters Friday night’s game against the Blue Jays hitting .396 (74 for 209) with 15 doubles, five homers, 20 RBI and 43 runs. He’s struck out 15 times and walked 19 times.
The top qualified hitter in the AL is Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. at .322 (99 for 307).
Kwan is hitting .500 (27 for 54) during his 14-game hitting streak. During his 25-game on-base streak he’s hitting .435 (40 for 92) with a .527 on-base percentage and a .641 slugging percentage.
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Teammates such as Will Brennan have enjoyed watching Kwan go to work.
“You never know what he’s going to do,” said Brennan. “He could put one off the (right field) foul pole or hit a double off the left field wall. He’s a special player and I’m hoping everyone gets to watch him down in Arlington. That would be really cool.”
The All-Star Game will be played July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Trivia time: I don’t know about you, but I feel a little slow this morning. I’m thinking an orange scone and a bear claw, along with a Diet Pepsi chaser, might be just the kind of breakfast that will get me out the door. My dad would have called that an eye opener, but he wasn’t referring to Diet Pepsi.
On the way out that door, here’s one for all you uniform number gurus. This is Steven Kwan’s third year wearing No. 38. Lots of Indians/Guardians players have worn the same number before him, but who wore it the longest? Answer below.
Sorry, we’re sold out
The Guardians announced Thursday that Saturday’s game at 4:10 p.m. against Toronto is a sellout. It will be the fifth sellout of the season for the Guards.
Events and giveaways surrounding the game include:
- Josh Naylor Bobblehead to first 15,000 fans.
- $2 Pregame in the District (5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
- Shaquille O’Neal/Diesel postgame concert.
Thursday’s game
The Guards spotted the Mariners leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before rallying for a 6-3 win in front of 24,470 fans.
Brennan had the first two-homer game of his career. He tied the score at 2-2 with a homer in the second and added an insurance run with a homer in the eighth.
The Guardians took the lead for good at 5-3 with a three-run rally in the fifth. Andres Gimenez homered and Josh Naylor doubled home a run. It was Naylor’s fifth RBI in the last two games.
Logan Allen (8-3, 5.23) went six innings for the win. As a rookie last year Allen went 7-8 with a 3.81 ERA in 24 starts.
Emmanuel Clase earned his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth.
Tonight’s game
RHP Carlos Carrasco makes his second consecutive start against Toronto on Friday night at 7:10. Carrasco (2-6, 5.80) was on the losing end of a 5-0 decision against the Jays on June 15 at Rogers Centre.
Carrasco, who allowed five runs on six hits in five innings, is 1-4 with a 6.56 ERA in his last seven starts. In his last five starts against Toronto, he’s 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA.
The Jays have not named a starter. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS, WARF and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
What’s next
Here’s what the Guardians are doing after Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays at Progressive Field.
- Saturday: RHP Ben Lively (6-3, 3.02) vs. RHP Jose Berrios (6-5, 3.13) at 4:10 p.m.
- Sunday: RHP Triston McKenzie (3-4, 4.48) vs. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-6, 3.65) at 1:40 p.m.
- Monday: The Guardians open a three-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. RHP Tanner Bibee (5-2, 3.65) will start for the Guardians. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
- Thursday: The Guardians open a four-game series against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Trivia Answer: Eric Plunk, one of the big arms in Mike Hargrove’s great bullpens of the 1990s, wore No. 38 for seven years.
An earlier edition of this post said a player must average 3.01 plate appearances per team game to be eligible for the batting title. To qualify for a batting title a player needs 3.1 plate appearances per team game.
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