Quantrill Approaches All-Time Major League Record For Consecutive Home Wins
It seems to be an unwritten rule somewhere in the baseball cosmos that when Cal Quantrill pitches, the Guardians offense scores a bunch of runs. And on top of that, when he pitches at home, Cleveland wins. Period.
Monday's homestand and series finale against the Twins is just the latest example as the Guardians beat Minnesota, 11-4. Their magic number to win the AL Central is now 12, while holding a 4-game lead over the White Sox and a 7-game lead on the Twins with 15 games to play.
By earning the win on Monday, Quantrill is now an unconscionable 13-0 pitching at Progressive Field in his career. Only three other pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball have gone 13-0 or better pitching in a single ballpark, and none of them accomplished the feat in a park they played their home games in.
Quantrill also tied former Indians pitcher Charles Nagy for the longest win streak for a pitcher in Progressive Field history Nagy won 13 straight games from July 3, 1995 to June 21, 1996.
He went 5.1 innings against the Twins, scattering nine hits and a walk. He struck out two and gave up three runs.
How is it possible that a pitcher can go so many games in a row without losing you ask? Well, part of it is an almost-as-unlikely stroke of good fortune.
Cal Quantrill has gotten more run support than any pitcher in Major League Baseball this year. After the Guardians scored four more runs during his 5.1 innings on Monday, Quantrill continues to lead all big league pitchers with 6.59 runs of support per-nine-innings pitched.
Josh Naylor annihilated a first inning breaking ball 109 mph to the concourse in right field for a 3-run shot.
After Quantrill came out of the game in line to pick up a win, Amed Rosario destroyed a pitch on to the home run porch in left for a 3-run shot.
Even Luke Maile got involved on the action, smashing just his third home run of the year. Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez each drove in runs for Cleveland too, as the Guardians beat Minnesota for the 13th and final time in 19 games this year.
No team in the American League has been better playing September baseball than the Guardians since Terry Francona took over in Cleveland in 2013. Their record in that span is 157-108 (.592), trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I have no idea how to interpret such a wild stretch of good fortune for Quantrill, but it's certainly made an impact on the Guardians' playoff push.
-----
Read More:
History Tells Us That Steven Kwan Should Be The American League Rookie Of The Year
Guardians To Add Another Potential Weapon Out Of The Pen In Flame Throwing Vargas
Amed Rosario Is The X-Factor In Guardians, Twins Series
Guardians Farm Report: Mace Comes Up Big For Lake County In Playoff Win Over Great Lakes
Gaddis Ties Dubious Franchise Record, Guardians Rocked By White Sox
-----
Be sure to stay locked into Cleveland Baseball Insider all the time!
SUBSCRIBE to the CBI YouTube channel
Follow Cleveland Baseball Insider on Twitter: @CBIonSI
