Guardians 

Guards’ dream start from pair of rookies turns sour in a flash

ARLINGTON — Things unraveled in a hurry for the Guardians on Friday night.

A game that started with the first leadoff home run of ‘s career and five scoreless innings by turned on a dime and into a 3-2 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

The Guardians have lost consecutive one-run games, dropping to 10-9 in those contests this season.

“We’re going to play a lot of close games,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “That’s who we are. That’s what’s in our DNA. Pitching is really good in this league. We’ve got to continue to just focus and relax at the plate. Our pitchers are used to pitching in close games.”

Messick was in the midst of a gem, retiring the first 11 batters he faced before Josh Jung reached with a two-out single in the fourth. Messick responded by retiring the next four batters, getting through five scoreless frames on just 63 pitches.

But he ran into trouble in the sixth.

Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka spoiled Messick’s shutout bid, sending a 3-2 sinker over the left-field fence to start the inning. Three batters later, after Wyatt Langford reached on a one-out double, the Rangers took the lead on a two-run, opposite-field blast from Corey Seager. Seager, who stepped to the plate in a career-long 0-for-29 skid, jumped on the first pitch he saw from Messick, sending a first-pitch, 84 mph slider over the left-field wall.

Messick tipped his cap to Higashioka for going deep and simply said Seager remains one of the elite hitters in the game. Not many hitters, Messick said, could take the pitch to the opposite field like Seager.

“He’s a really good hitter, a slider down and away and he went backside with it. Not a lot of people can do it,” Messick said. “Maybe I need to get that ball a little more down, but just a good swing.”

Messick’s night came to an end two batters later when he issued a four-pitch walk to Ezequiel Duran. It was a sudden turn of events for Messick and the Guardians.

“I felt good. It was one where I had the delivery in order, everything was coming out how we wanted,” said Messick, who now carries a 2.40 ERA on the year. “Cruised for five … just made some tough pitches in the sixth.”

Added Vogt: “It just happened really fast. It looked like his velo was a tick down when he went back out for the sixth. They jumped him and he left a couple of balls out over the plate.”

Messick didn’t have much margin for error.

Bazzana provided an early lead with his solo shot, turning on a 95.4 mph sinker from Rangers starter Kumar Rocker. Bazzana’s blast had a 99.1 mph exit velocity and landed in the right-field seats to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead.

Austin Hedges extended the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single in the fourth. But those were the only runs for the Guardians, who finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-3 with a runner on third and less than two outs.

Bazzana opened the fifth inning with a triple down the right-field line but didn’t cross the plate. The other opportunity with a runner on third and less than two outs came in the second inning.

“We’re going to keep working to convert on those good pitching appearances,” said Bazzana, who was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. “[We’re] usually pretty good at winning one-run ballgames. Today we got beat by a big swing, which is tough, but I’m sure we’re going to do a great job at winning close games.

“We’ve just got to continue to make the most of our at-bats with runners in scoring position. That’s going to be the key for us.”