Carlos Carrasco struggles, Cleveland Guardians shut out by Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays jumped out to an early lead and Bowden Francis pitched four strong innings of relief en route to a 5-0 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Saturday afternoon.
Francis (3-2) allowed four hits and struck out two as the Blue Jays gained a split of the first two games of the three-game series.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two hits and an RBI for Toronto.
Steven Kwan had three singles for the Guardians to extend his hit streak to 10 games. Josh Naylor added two hits.
Right-hander Trevor Richards was the opener for Toronto and allowed one hit with one strikeout in 2⅓ innings. Tim Mayza and Zach Pop followed him in the third, when Cleveland had two singles. Francis took over in the fourth.
Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco (2-6) allowed five runs, six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in five innings. He also hit two batters.
Toronto took the lead in the second inning. Justin Turner walked, Daulton Varsho doubled to right, and George Springer and Addison Barger hit RBI singles. Kiner-Falefa sacrificed the runners to second and third and Spencer Horwitz followed with a two-out RBI single to left.
The Blue Jays added a run in the fourth. Springer led off with a walk, took second on a groundout and scored on Kiner-Falefa's single to center.
Toronto took a 5-0 lead in the fifth. Danny Jansen was hit by a pitch, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ended an 0-for-19 drought with an infield hit to shortstop and Turner was hit by a pitch. A run scored when Varsho bounced into a double play.
Genesis Cabrera took over from Francis in the eighth and pitched around a single with the help of a double play grounder. Nate Pearson pitched the ninth for Toronto and allowed only a walk.
Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette (sore calf) did not play.
Guardians standout Jose Ramirez placed on paternity list
Cleveland Guardians star third baseman Jose Ramirez was placed on the paternity list Saturday after leaving the team for the birth of his third child.
Ramirez can miss up to three games while on the paternity list. The first was Saturday at the Toronto Blue Jays.
The five-time All-Star leads Cleveland with 18 homers, 62 RBIs, 14 doubles, 51 runs and 71 hits. He entered Saturday second in the majors in RBIs behind Aaron Judge (63) of the New York Yankees. Ramirez is batting .269 with a .330 on-base percentage in 66 games.
Ramirez, 31, has a career average of .278 with 234 homers and 808 RBIs in 1,359 games since reaching the majors with Cleveland in 2013.
Outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to fill the roster opening.
Rodriguez, 24, was batting .307 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs in 53 games at Columbus. He batted .130 (3-for-23) with three RBIs in eight games with Cleveland earlier this season.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians blanked by Blue Jays, Steven Kwan hit streak now 10 games
