When 40% of the actual Opening Day rotation is injured and 60% of the would-be Opening Day rotation is injured, the idea of hosting the division leader who’s on a 11-wins-in-12-games heater would be daunting in its own right. With a loss in the initial game of the series and a rookie on the mound in just his third career big league start factored into the equation, it would’ve been easy to be very, very concerned heading into this one.
Fortunately, Vladimir Gutierrez eased all of our nerves with yet another rock solid performance.
The righty shrugged off an error-prone initial inning and settled in brilliantly thereafter, eventually logging 7 innings of 2 ER ball in a 102 pitch outing that was much needed after Sonny Gray’s injury-shortened outing yesterday sapped the bullpen.