Logan Allen manages to recover after scary 1st inning

It was a very ominous start for Cleveland Guardians pitcher Logan Allen that almost became a complete disaster in the 1st inning. Allen gave up a solo home run to Ketel Marte on his first pitch of the game, followed up by a second solo shot off the bat of Gabriel Moreno on the fifth. Three batters later, the game would come to a screeching halt.

Diamondbacks outfielder Randal Grichuk connected with a pitch that would come back and hit Allen before ending up in center field for a single. It was a very scary series of events, and for a moment, Allen's day seemed like it was going to be over in the 1st inning.

Amazingly, somehow, someway, Allen stayed in the game and was able to have a productive start despite getting drilled by the comebacker off the bat of Grichuk. Allen actually pitched better following the incident, which was definitely something that came as a surprise.

Before being hit: Four hits, two runs allowed, 0.2 innings pitched.

After being hit: One hit allowed, zero runs, 4.1 innings pitched.

Allen was able to pitch well enough and deep enough that the Guardians were leading when he exited the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen was not up to the task, as the Diamondbacks would take the lead immediately following Allen's departure from the game.

Even though the Guardians did not win the game and seven additional pitchers were needed from the 6th inning on, imagine how rough Cleveland's bullpen would look if Allen was not able to pitch beyond the 1st inning. The parade of relievers would be even longer and the state of Cleveland's pitching staff would be a gigantic mess that they might not have been able to recover from. Considering the Guardians have six games to play from now until Sunday, including a doubleheader in Minnesota, an early exit from Allen would have been catastrophic. Now, the Guardians can assess their options accordingly and put together a plan with the options available to them that will give them their best chance to win.