Is Ben Lively the best surprise in baseball this year? | Cleveland Guardians

Ben Lively had another solid start, David Fry drove in two early runs and the Cleveland Guardians won their fourth straight, 3-1 on Monday night over the New York Mets to ruin Francisco Lindor's return.
The Guardians won for the seventh time in eight games. The AL Central leaders are beginning to show they're more than an early season surprise.
“We’re kind of already to the point of past the start,” said the versatile Fry. “After the first week or two, the new season kind of wears off. We just have a really good mindset and everybody’s just having a lot of fun right now.”
Lindor, who spent six seasons with Cleveland, went 0 for 4 in his first game at Progressive Field since being traded to New York in 2021.
The four-time All-Star shortstop struck out, grounded out twice and flied out, dropping his average to .193.
Lively (3-2) allowed just one run - a homer - and six hits in 5 2/3 innings before first-year manager Stephen Vogt turned things over to his bullish bullpen.
Nick Sandlin took over a two-on, two-out situation in the sixth and gave up a walk before striking out Brett Baty with the bases loaded. Scott Barlow pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and rookie Cade Smith struck out two in the eighth.
Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase finished up the combined six-hitter in the ninth for his 14th save. The right-hander has given up just one earned run in 24 1/3 innings this season.
“They carry us,” Fry said of Cleveland's relievers. “Every time they come into the game, we’re just like, yep, they’re going to get a bunch of zeros.”
The Guardians didn't get a hit after the fourth but snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Mets.
Tomás Nido homered for New York, which fell to 3-8 since May 9.
The Mets struck out 11 times, and when they did get something started, they got in their own way.
After J.D. Martinez doubled in the second, Sterling Marte hit a comebacker. Martinez got caught in a rundown between second and third, and Marte made things worse by getting thrown out trying to scramble back to first.
“We didn’t play well,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. "We made a couple of mistakes. It wasn’t as good game.”
The Mets' first trip to Cleveland since 2016 was also a homecoming for Lindor.
The 30-year-old received a warm ovation - there were some scattered boos - before leading off the first from Cleveland fans, who cheered him through six seasons, four playoff appearances and a memorable 2016 World Series.
Lindor once thought he would spend his entire career with Cleveland, but the club couldn't meet his price on a long-term contract and dealt him.
Full article | www.espn.com/mlb/recap/_/game...
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[@Elephant2024-wi2li]

Heading into the Memorial Day weekend and not only are the Guardians and Royals running 1-2 in the AL Central, but also both of these teams are well above .500. Do not think that a whole lot of people had that on their bingo cards going into the season.

[@shelly1298]

It's not the start, it's the stop. 😂

[@stephenkolozsi6942]

CURRENTLY on pace to flirt with 100 wins.

[@user-mq1vg6zv4v]

Put Kenny Lofton in the HOF...