Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase stood out as the Cleveland Guardians' top performers in their win over the Seattle Mariners.
The Cleveland Guardians won their first game of 2023 with a 9-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. Cleveland's bats were cold in the season opener, but they reversed the narrative in the second game and exploded for 13 hits which also included some fantastic pitching.
These were some of the team's top performers in that first win.
Steven Kwan
It would be difficult to not talk about Steven Kwan when looking at the team's top performers from Friday night. Kwan had more RBI (five) than the Mariners scored runs, and the way he got them was a classic Kwan performance.
His first RBI came as a sacrifice fly, then he hit a bloop shot that hit the chalk just past the third base bag that scored two, and then he finished off his tear with a base hit that also drove in two.
Kwan has picked up right where he left off from last season which is a great sign for this Guardians offense.
Emmanuel Clase
The entire bullpen was fantastic on Friday as none of them gave up a run which allowed the Guardians to extend their lead.
Out of the entire bullpen, Emmanuel Clase stood out as he came in for the ninth inning and shut down any hope for the Mariners to make a comeback.
Clase's dominance continues to grow and he showed that in his first appearance of the season. He pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning which included two strikeouts. Clase also only threw 10 pitches and eight of those were strikes.
The reigning American League Reliever of the year is going to be one of the best closers again in 2023.
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Cover Photo Credit: © Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
