First-place Guardians blank White Sox 4-0 to win home opener

CLEVELAND — The total solar eclipse was a sight to see at Progressive Field on Monday. The Guardians looked pretty good, too. Thanks to a quality effort from right-hander Triston McKenzie that was backed by a two-run home run from Jose Ramirez, the Guardians continued their hot start to the season by beating the White Sox 4-0 in the home opener. First-place Cleveland improved to 8-2, matching their best start since 2011. "I think we're just being ourselves, playing our game, running the bases well, pitching and putting together some good at-bats. That's our identity," said second baseman Andres Gimenez, who played a major part in the victory. "You feel the vibe, you feel the energy. We trust in each other. I feel like now is the time we grow up together. We've spent the last three years together, so we know each other pretty well." Owning a tenuous lead through four innings, Ramirez gave Cleveland some distance by taking former Guardians reliever Bryan Shaw deep to right field to put his team in front 4-0. It was Ramirez's 100th homer in Cleveland, pushing him past Al Rosen for the most homers (174) in franchise history by a third baseman. "I feel like every game he's playing he's breaking a record," Gimenez said. "He's doing fantastic. For us, it's easy to follow him and follow the way that he plays." McKenzie provided an example of how to pitch, looking much better than in his debut outing April 1 in Seattle, where he allowed five runs on four hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of a 5-4 loss. McKenzie allowed two of his three hits in the first two innings, holding the Sox to just a hit over the final 3 2/3 innings of his outing. "The drastic adjustment from last start to this start, you could see it," manager Stephen Vogt said. "I can't say enough about him going length and giving us a chance." "I thought I did a decent job of getting some quick outs with the heater and beating trouble with the heater," McKenzie said. "I think I was a little in and out of the zone. I had some deep at-bats. I had some quick ones, but overall I was able to keep them off balance." Of the Guardians' first six batters, five struck out against Chicago's opener, left-hander Tanner Banks, but Cleveland took advantage of gifts from the White Sox to score their first two runs. Gimenez led off the third with a double to left, scoring when shortstop Braden Shewmake couldn't handle a grounder from Brayan Rocchio. Gimenez was hit by a pitch from Tim Hill with the bases loaded to force in Cleveland's second run in the fourth. Gimenez, who led the American League in HBP with 25 in 2022, and was hit 20 times last year, has been plunked a major league-leading five times through 10 games. One of Cleveland's hottest hitters to start the season, Gimenez joined left fielder Steven Kwan (three singles and a run) and Josh Naylor (two singles) with multihit games. A Gold Glover the past two years, Gimenez also made multiple top-notch plays in the field. "It's at the point right now that when the ball's hit that direction I just expect the play to be made. He's earned that reputation for himself," Vogt said. "He never ceases to amaze me defensively and his bats as well. He's off to a great start on both sides of the ball, but he's an absolute wizard defensively. There's platinum on that glove for a reason." Outside of the season-ending injury to ace Shane Bieber, Vogt couldn't have asked for a much better start to his managerial career. "These guys love each other," he said. "This is a core that's been together for a number of years, nothing's changed. That's been the message: 'I know there's been a lot of change around here but you guys don't change who you are. Keep going.' They love each other. These guys are just having fun now. "There were so many great things from tonight. It's what the fans want to see: A win, Jose Ramirez hits a homer, your starting pitcher goes into the sixth and Emmanuel Clase finishes the game. That's what people want to see." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.