Gabriel Arias goes from goat to hero as Guardians beat Cubs in home opener

CLEVELAND — For the first six innings of Friday's home opener at Progressive Field, shortstop Gabriel Arias didn't look like he belonged on a major league field. Then he went out and changed the game for the Guardians. On the heels of botching a play in the field, striking out badly and getting thrown out at the plate, Arias atoned for it all with a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of a 4-1 victory over the Cubs. "We know Gabby's got that kind of power," said manager Stephen Vogt. "It's been a slow start for Gabby, but the last two games he's looked a lot better offensively. "The pop-up, those things happen. They shouldn't and they can't, but they do. He rebounded really well. It was really good to see him turn the page as quickly as he did because he was obviously upset with himself." Only three batters after Arias broke a 1-all tie with an opposite-field drive to right, rookie Chase DeLauter continued an outrageous start to the season with his fifth home run in the first seven games of his career — a two-run blast. DeLauter also provided the tying single with two outs in the fifth. "It's incredible what he's doing," Vogt said. "This kid's comfortable. He's not big-eyed. He's doing a phenomenal job for us. It's a really fun start for him." Through his first seven games, DeLauter is batting .346 (9-for-26) with five homers, eight RBIs and a 1.293 OPS. "I wouldn't necessarily say surprised. I'm a hitter," DeLauter said. "It's something I look forward to every day and it's something I give my all to. I take pride in it." DeLauter is going to have to work on his homer celebration at the plate, though. He threw a shoulder into Steven Kwan, who was on base when he went deep, and nearly knocked him to the ground. "That one was my fault," DeLauter joked. "He went in for a high-five. I went in for a hug. Bad combination there. We'll get it figured out for sure." Left-hander Joey Cantillo gave the Guardians a much better effort than in his season debut (two runs over 3 2/3 innings), allowing just a run on four hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings. The Guardians gift-wrapped Chicago's run in the third when Arias and third baseman Jose Ramirez failed to catch a pop-up from Pete Crowe-Armstrong that fell for a one-out double. Miguel Amaya followed with a legitimate double to score the game's first run. It looked as though Arias called off Ramirez but failed to make the play. Ramirez was visibly upset when the ball dropped into the outfield grass in front of his teammate. "Things that happen in the game, I take accountability," Arias said through an interpreter. "I feel like I called it off a little bit too early when I wasn't really under it. Those mental errors are really difficult to flush, but I was able to get back and stay locked in the game." "When things like that happen, you've just got to shake it off, and that's exactly what he did," Cantillo said. "That's why we're sitting here (celebrating a win)." After DeLauter and Ramirez started the fourth with base hits and failed to score, Cleveland tied it in the following inning when Daniel Schneemann led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Brayan Rocchio. Kwan popped out and DeLauter followed with a liner to left to score Schneemann. Arias was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. The Guardians bullpen, which had a rough season-opening road trip, came through at home, shutting out the Cubs over the final 3 2/3 innings. Closer Cade Smith entered his appearance owning an 8.31 ERA, but he struck out two of the four batters he faced in the ninth for his second save. "The bullpen was special again tonight. It was fun to watch," Vogt said. Cleveland pitchers allowed only five hits, four over the first eight innings, and struck out 10. With the temperature at 70 degrees for first pitch, it was the warmest home opener since 1992 (73 degrees), excluding the 2020 pandemic season, and played in front of 36,396 fans. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.