Peyton Battenfield flirts with perfection in 2-0 loss to Twins
Peyton Battenfield is the only Cleveland Guardian who merits mention in this recap.
Battenfield took a perfect game into the sixth inning, retiring 17 consecutive batters before surrendering a single to Christian Vázquez on a first-pitch fastball. His next mistake would be his worst, leaving a 3-2 cutter over the heart of the plate to Max Kepler, who homered to give the Twins an insurmountable 2-0 lead over the Guardians. But giving up two hits, no walks, and two earned runs over seven innings is more than good enough.
Battenfield racked up seven strikeouts, leaning primarily on his cutter and four-seam fastball throughout the game to avoid the barrel of the Twins’ bats.
Minnesota starting pitcher Bailey Ober reportedly faced a lineup of major league baseball players, but there is no evidence to support that claim. Quite the contrary, actually. Ober pitched seven shutout innings, only allowing one walk and three hits, striking out six. Opposing hitters seemed flummoxed by his slider, which finished the night with a 50% CSW%.
Remember, we’ve got 130 more games of this.
Source: Covering The Corner
