Cleveland got exactly what it needed and then some, edging Boston 3-1 behind a late run, a clean finish from Cade Smith and a heads-up play from Angel Genao that sealed the deal.
The Guardians wasted no time getting moving. In the top of the second, Angel Martínez doubled to left and came around on a David Fry single.
Cleveland kept the pressure on in the same inning when Travis Bazzana singled and Austin Hedges walked to fill the bases. Brayan Rocchio then grounded into a double play, but it still brought Fry home for a 2-0 lead.
From there, the game turned into a grind for Cleveland’s pitching staff. Rookie Parker Messick gave the Guardians a solid start, but a 12-pitch battle in the fourth drove his pitch count up and kept him from going deep. He finished with 5.0 innings, allowing one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five on 96 pitches.
Tim Herrin and Craig Yoho teamed up to get through the sixth without damage, and Erik Sabrowski handled the seventh while walking one and striking out three. Hunter Gaddis worked the eighth, but Boston got back into it with a leadoff home run that tied the game.
Cleveland answered in the ninth after Boston handed it an opening. Chase DeLauter was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Jo Adell followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners. Nathaniel Lowe, who had entered for Angel Martínez in the seventh, then lifted a sacrifice fly to the wall to score DeLauter and put Cleveland back on top.
Cade Smith took it from there in the bottom of the ninth, chasing his 40th save of the season. He opened with a strikeout, then issued a walk to pinch-hitter Jarren Duran.
A groundout moved the tying run into scoring position, and another grounder nearly created chaos when Nathaniel Lowe slipped at the worst possible moment. But rookie Angel Genao, who had come in for Travis Bazzana as a defensive replacement at second in the eighth, backed up the play and sprinted to first to finish off the game.
The win dropped Cleveland’s magic number to two to clinch the playoffs, with a chance to get it to one if the Astros lose tonight in Seattle. The Royals also beat the White Sox, keeping the division exactly where it started the day.
In Other News...
Guardians Are Suddenly One Step Closer To A Clinch After Another Thriller
The Guardians kept finding ways to survive on September 22, outlasting the Red Sox 3-2 in another tight, late-September game that fit the tone of a team trying to finish the job. Nathaniel Lowe provided the decisive blow with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, while Parker Messick did enough in his start to keep Cleveland in position before the bullpen took over.
Cade Smith finished it off and reached 40 saves on the year, a notable marker for a club that has leaned on its late-inning arm all season. The bigger picture is even better for Cleveland: its magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to two, and the Guardians still sit atop the AL Central as the calendar turns toward the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Vogts Late-Game Guardians Move Is Becoming A Real October Weapon
Travis Bazzanas rookie season has come with the usual growing pains, and for Stephen Vogt, that has meant getting creative when games tighten up late. The Guardians manager has turned to Angel Genao as a defensive replacement in key spots, using his versatility around the infield to help shore up a young roster when the margin for error shrinks. It is the sort of September adjustment contenders make when every clean inning and every sure-handed exchange starts to matter more.
Against the Red Sox, that move paid off in a big way, as Genao made a crucial defensive play that helped close out the win and trim Clevelands magic number to clinch a postseason berth. The contrast between the two young infielders has become part of the clubs late-game equation, with Genao offering the steadier glove right now while Bazzana continues to work through the challenges of his first full season. For a team trying to lock down October, those small swaps can carry outsized weight. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have A Painful October Decision On Tanner Bibee
The Guardians have put themselves in a strong spot in the AL Central and are lining up to spend October with a pitching staff built around Parker Messick and Gavin Williams. That kind of stability matters even more when the calendar flips, and it is part of why Cleveland can afford to think carefully about how it handles Tanner Bibee as the postseason approaches.
Bibees recent struggles and uneven performance have raised real questions about whether he can be trusted in the biggest games, and Jensen Lewis has pointed to the numbers as reason for caution. For a team that wants every edge it can get in October, the decision is not simply about talent. It is about whether Cleveland is willing to lean on a pitcher whose role may no longer be as secure as it looked earlier in the year. [Read more 🡒]