DSL Guardians kick off season with 28-run barrage

There is nothing like Opening Day, and the Rookie-level Guardians Blue had one for the ages in the Dominican Summer League on Monday.

Cleveland’s DSL affiliate came out of the gate swinging in its inter-organizational opener against the DSL Guardians Red … and swinging, and swinging and swinging. When they finally stopped, Blue had bashed 24 hits and used a 13-run sixth inning to claim a lopsided 28-5 win in the kind of slugfest only Rookie-ball seems to provide.

Shortstop Welbyn Francisca homered and tripled as part of a five-hit, five-run day, second baseman Yaikel Mijares cracked a game-breaking grand slam and right fielder Mason Bolivar scored four runs and drove in three runs as part of his own four-hit afternoon. But they were far from the only contributors.

Seven of Blue’s nine starters tallied multi-hit games, eight drove in at least two runs, and every starter scored at least twice. The team went a whopping 17-for-25 with runners in scoring position. On the day.

That’s not only some way to start a season, but how about to begin a career? For Francisca, Mijares, Bolivar and many other participants, Monday marked their pro debut. They enjoyed it in style, jumping out to a big lead and nearly batting around twice in their 13-run sixth inning, during which Blue made Red burn through four pitchers and sent 16 men to the plate.

Offensive outbursts like this are not common in Rookie-level ball, but they do happen. The DSL Yankees scored 38 runs in a win over the Twins on July 3, 2019, and 32 runs in a victory over Pittsburgh on June 27, 2022. The Guardians' Red squad plated 28 runs in a seven-inning contest on Sept. 24, 2021, and last season a DSL team scored 21+ runs in a game 10 separate times.