Cleveland had a chance to make life difficult for Paul Skenes early, but the Guardians never turned that opening into anything lasting and wound up dropping the Pittsburgh series.
Joey Cantillo was asked to navigate a tough matchup against Skenes, and while he wasn’t overwhelmed, the support around him never really showed up. Cantillo worked into the sixth inning and finished with four earned runs allowed on seven hits and three walks.
He struck out seven. Pittsburgh was only ahead 2-1 when the sixth began, but back-to-back doubles with no outs forced Vogt to turn to Franco Aleman.
Aleman then allowed two hits and a walk, and both an inherited run and an earned run crossed.
The bullpen had a couple of other clean-looking stretches mixed in with damage. Hunter Gaddis turned in a solid outing, with a walk as his only blemish. Will Dion handled the eighth and ninth, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out four.
Cleveland’s offense never found a rhythm, though there was a brief stretch that suggested the Guardians might get to Skenes. In the bottom of the third, Gabriel Arias singled. Petey Halpin and Steven Kwan followed with back-to-back one-out singles, and Arias scored on Kwan’s perfect bunt.
That momentum disappeared quickly. With Bazzana at the plate, Kwan was thrown out trying to steal second in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out play that ended the inning.
The fourth inning brought another missed chance. Chase DeLauter walked, moved from first to third on Brayan Rocchio’s single to center, and then Kyle Manzardo lifted a fly ball to center that turned into a double play when DeLauter was thrown out at home. It was the second straight game in which a Cleveland runner failed to slide into home, a frustrating detail that kept a promising inning from becoming anything more.
Now the Guardians turn the page to a four-game set with the Twins beginning tomorrow. It’s a right-handed pitching matchup, with Joe Ryan set to start for Minnesota and Tanner Bibee going for Cleveland. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM.
In Other News...
Guardians Trade Deadline Pressure Just Spiked After Brutal Outfield Update
The Guardians outfield depth took another hit this week when CJ Kayfus, once viewed as a useful internal option, was sidelined after an ankle procedure. Kayfus had been a key minor-league fallback for Cleveland, the kind of player a front office likes to have nearby when the big-league roster starts to thin out, and his absence leaves the organization with one less straightforward answer as the season moves deeper into summer.
For a club that has already had to keep shuffling pieces around the outfield, the timing makes the trade deadline feel a little more urgent. Cleveland has been monitoring the market for help, and losing Kayfus from the mix only sharpens the pressure to find another bat and glove combination that can steady the group before the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have Finally Found Their Right-Handed Bat Fix
The Guardians search for a right-handed bat has been a familiar subplot, and it has only grown louder as the front office looks for ways to balance a lineup that can still feel too left-handed at times. One possible answer would come from Cincinnati, where a versatile hitter with enough defensive value to move around the diamond has started to look like the kind of player Cleveland could actually use, not just admire from afar.
The fit is obvious enough to make the idea linger: a bat with some pop, a glove that offers options, and a profile that could slide into the roster without forcing a complete rewrite. The harder part is the price, and that is where the conversation turns to whether the Reds would ask for more than Cleveland wants to give, even with the Guardians farm system offering the sort of minor league depth that usually gets other teams attention. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have Quietly Let Another Promising Outfield Bat Slip Away
A once-promising outfield bat from the Guardians system is getting another look elsewhere after Cleveland moved on and the player resurfaced with Philadelphia. The switch came after a season that never really got on track because of a shoulder injury, a setback that interrupted the kind of development that had made him an intriguing name in the organization not long ago.
Now in High-A with Jersey Shore, he is trying to rebuild momentum in a new setting while the Guardians are left to wonder what might have been. Cleveland had seen enough promise in earlier seasons to keep him on the radar, so his departure fits the familiar pattern of a prospect slipping through the cracks just as a path to the majors starts to open. [Read more 🡒]