A Night to Forget: Guardians Drop Series Opener to Houston Astros in Pitching Letdown

Games are going to be won and lost; that's just baseball.

But Monday's defeat for the Cleveland Guardians was especially tough on starting pitcher Slade Cecconi.

On Monday, April 20, the Guardians played host to the Houston Astros, where they fell, 9-2, to begin a three-game series at home. Following a 3-1 series win over the Baltimore Orioles this past weekend, such a tough defeat felt extra hard to swallow.

One of the main reasons for Cleveland's struggles was the play on the mound from Cecconi, who pitched through five innings, giving up 10 hits, seven runs, six earned runs and two walks. He only ended up striking out two batters, but his control of the ball was all over the place.

"It was good to see his velocity back up," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I thought that was a positive for him. You know, came out of the shoot throwing 95, just not crispy with his other stuff. And, you know, really battled. They got to him there in the fourth. But we saw a lot of good signs from Slade tonight, some things that were definitely an improvement from the last time out.

"So, going to keep working and keep battling."

Cecconi hasn't had the best start to the 2026 campaign.

Now, through five starts, his ERA is up to 6.20 with a WHIP of 1.58. His batting average against is also up to a mark of .273, with 27 hits allowed, five of which have gone the distance. His strikeout numbers aren't too sharp either, as he has only sent down 20 batters.

After Cecconi exited the game, the bullpen wasn't much better for the Guardians.

Reliever Matt Festa came in and ate up two innings for the team. He struck out one, allowing one hit and one run in the process. Like Cecconi, his season has been riddled with ups and downs, with his ERA sitting at a clip of 6.35.

Tim Herrin then entered the mix, tossing through one inning. He gave up one hit and one walk.

However, while his WHIP continues to grow and is now up to 1.80 through eight appearances, he still hasn't given up a run this season.

Connor Brogdon capped off the game in the ninth and gave up a solo home run to Isaac Paredes in a full-count. Eventually, he was able to secure all three outs.

Cleveland's Okay Hitting Day

While the play on the mound wasn't the best, the play at the plate wasn't much better either.

After Cecconi gave up a two-run blast in the first inning, the Guardians' lineup attempted to chip away at the deficit. They were able to rally and score a run on a Rhys Hoskins single into left field in the bottom of the first, before they tied up the game in the bottom of the third off the barrel of George Valera.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't come close to taking the lead again.

The Guardians ended Monday night with just eight hits, with a José Ramírez double, a Kyle Manzardo single, a Rhys Hoskins single and three knocks from Brayan Rocchio, spotlighting the rest of the lineup.

When asked about Kyle Manzardo's knock he had with two outs in the first inning, Vogt complimented his recent play.

"Kyle sees more curveballs probably than anybody in the league," he said. "He's starting to get some hits on them, which is great. And, you know, he's been getting some results this last week. So really, really nice from Kyle."

It's likely one of those games the team will want to forget about and move on from, especially considering the pitching has been a major question mark in recent games. But getting solid contributions from Rocchio day in and day out has been such a positive for the team recently.

"[He's] just a consistent at-bat," Vogt said. "You know, Rokie [Rocchio] is staying within himself. He's taking what the pitchers are giving him, taking his walks. Rokie is off to a really nice start this year, and it's been really fun to watch."

The Guardians and Astros will be right back in action on Tuesday, April 21, for game two of a three-game set. They'll look to even up the series to avoid dropping three of the last four series.

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