Foster Griffin gave the Guardians something Wednesday that baseball had literally never seen before, and it came in a game Cleveland still lost, 1-0, to the Red Sox.
The line itself sounds ordinary at first glance: six innings, one run. But the path to get there was anything but normal.
Griffin became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw 6.0 innings, allow 10 hits, give up one earned run, issue no walks and strike out seven. Even more unusual, every one of those 10 hits was a single.
That made for a strange kind of outing - one that showed why Griffin can be so hard to square up, but also why the Guardians have a real decision to make if he’s part of their postseason picture. He limited Boston to one run and no extra-base hits, yet spent most of the night pitching through traffic.
The Red Sox finally broke through in the sixth. Jarren Duran opened the inning with a single, Caleb Durbin reached second on a fielder’s choice, and Andruw Monasterio - a former Guardians farmhand - delivered a two-out single to bring Duran home.
For Cleveland, the larger issue is what Griffin’s start means when the games start to matter most. Stephen Vogt has shown he won’t hesitate to shorten a starter’s leash in October.
In 2024, he pulled Matthew Boyd after two scoreless innings in the Guardians’ winner-take-all ALDS game against the Tigers. Last year, Tanner Bibee lasted just 4 1/3 innings in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series after allowing five hits and three walks.
Griffin’s line was cleaner in one obvious way - he didn’t walk anyone - but he still allowed two more baserunners than Bibee did in that postseason outing. He also had only one 1-2-3 inning, the fourth, and gave up multiple singles in three of the six frames he worked.
The Guardians already know Parker Messick and Gavin Williams will start the first two games in any postseason series they play. The third spot is where things get messy.
Bibee has been a major part of Cleveland’s postseason plans over the last two seasons, but he’s in the middle of the worst month of his career. Joey Cantillo made 30 starts this season, though September has found him mostly in a bulk-relief role.
Then there’s Griffin, whose arrival cost the Guardians four prospects and whose Cleveland run has had both sharp highs and rough lows. Wednesday was his third quality start for the club, but it also came on the heels of two starts in which he allowed five or more earned runs.
The format may end up deciding how much Griffin matters. If the Guardians win the American League Central, they’d go straight to the best-of-five AL Division Series and get the built-in off days that let a pitching staff breathe. If they end up in the Wild Card Series, it’s a three-game sprint packed into 72 hours, and that demands three starters.
So Griffin’s historic night came with a twist: plenty to admire, plenty to question, and no easy answer for Cleveland’s October rotation plans.
In Other News...
Josh Naylor Just Gave Cleveland A Playoff Boost They Desperately Needed
Josh Naylors walk-off single against the Astros gave Cleveland exactly the kind of late-inning lift it has been chasing in a tight September stretch. The hit not only delivered a needed win, it also dropped the Guardians magic number to clinch a postseason spot to one, putting them within striking distance of locking up a place in the playoff field with little margin left for error.
The ripple effects extended beyond Cleveland, too, with the result keeping the AL West race knotted as the Astros and Rangers stayed tied for the lead. It also bought the Mariners another day of hope in the postseason chase, even as Naylors own season has been uneven overall, which made the timing of the swing all the more meaningful for a Cleveland team looking for any edge it can get. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Take Unusual Mound Gamble With AL Central Stakes Rising
With four games left in the regular season, the Guardians are making a notable pitching choice for their series finale against the Red Sox. Daniel Espino is set to start, while Joey Cantillo is lined up for a bulk relief role, a setup Cleveland is using as it tries to keep a one-game edge over the White Sox in the AL Central.
The timing gives the move extra weight, because every inning now carries division implications and a possible first-round bye. Cleveland has spent the stretch run fighting to stay in control of its own fate, and the way it handles this matchup in Boston could shape how comfortable that path looks by the time the regular season ends. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Let Playoff Celebration Slip After Costly Missed Opportunity
A night that had the feel of a chance to tighten the grip on October ended with Cleveland blanked at Fenway Park, where the Guardians fell 1-0 to the Red Sox. Foster Griffin gave them a chance by working six innings and allowing just the one run, but Sonny Gray was even better for Boston and kept Cleveland off the board in a game decided by a sixth-inning score.
The defeat leaves the Guardians at 82-76 and sends the series into its next chapter tied, a frustrating result after the kind of slim-margin game playoff hopefuls are expected to find a way to steal. Instead, Cleveland heads out of this one still looking for that finishing touch, with little room left to waste opportunities as the race narrows. [Read more 🡒]