Jo Adell wasted no time putting his stamp on a night that could end up mattering a lot more than a single August win.
Under 77-degree skies at Progressive Field, with the air carrying that strange late-summer edge that starts to feel like football season or maybe the postseason, the Guardians rolled past the Giants 8-1 on Tuesday night behind Adell’s biggest game yet in Cleveland. He drove in a career-high six runs in his first three at-bats, and by the time the Guardians were up 7-1 after four innings, he had driven in six of them.
The damage started immediately. After Steven Kwan drew a leadoff walk and Jose Ramirez singled, Adell launched a 455-foot three-run homer in the first inning off Giants starter Carson Whisenhunt. The ball landed five rows from the top of the left-field bleachers, making it the longest home run of Adell’s career and the longest by a Guardians player this season.
It was also his third homer since arriving from the Angels at the trade deadline, and his 19th overall this year.
The Giants briefly answered in the second when Bryce Eldridge led off with a homer off Guardians starter Foster Griffin, cutting the deficit to 3-1. That was Griffin’s 23rd home run allowed this season, but Cleveland never let the game tilt any further.
Adell came right back in the bottom half. With two outs, Kwan singled and Ramirez followed with a double past third.
Adell then singled to center to bring both runners home and stretch the lead to 5-1. In the fourth, the Guardians kept the pressure on: Brayan Rocchio singled, Kwan walked - continuing a stretch in which he has reached base in 41 of his last 45 games - and after Ramirez flew out, Adell punched a single between third and short to score Rocchio for RBI No.
- Drew Gilbert overran the ball in left, allowing Kwan to move to third and Adell to second, and Angel Martinez brought Kwan in on a groundout to make it 7-1.
Whisenhunt didn’t return for the fifth. In his first start against Cleveland, he gave up seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in four innings. He struck out one and walked two in what was his seventh start of the season.
Griffin, meanwhile, handled the Giants for six innings and picked up the win. He allowed one run on four hits while striking out six and walking two.
Since joining the Guardians, Griffin is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA, and the early returns have been encouraging after a change in how he’s working with his catchers. After calling his own pitches when he arrived in Cleveland, the catchers have now called about 70% of the pitches in his last two starts, and the setup appears to be paying off.
The game also had an unusual pause in the third inning. Plate umpire Jordan Baker took a foul tip off the mask from San Francisco’s Andrew Kinzer in the second and was eventually forced to leave after four innings.
Third base umpire Rob Drake moved behind the plate before the fifth, and the game resumed after a 12-minute delay with three umpires. MLB later said, “Jordan (Baker) exited the game and is now being evaluated under MLB’s concussion protocols.”
The Guardians tacked on their final run in the seventh and improved to 61-65. The Giants dropped to 51-74 and have now lost eight of their last 11.
The schedule ahead gives Cleveland a clear chance to make up ground. After two more games with San Francisco, the Guardians will face three straight against the Rockies and then three against the Angels. Those three clubs are all buried in their divisions - the Rockies at 50-75 in last place in the NL West, the Angels at 49-76 in last place in the AL West - and this stretch has the feel of a real opportunity for a team that has won just six of its last 16.
In Other News...
Guardians May Revisit The Patrick Bailey Trade Sooner Than They Wanted
Tugboat Wilkinson is getting close enough to the big leagues that the Guardians may soon have to revisit a trade they already spent plenty of time sorting through. The left-handed pitching prospect Cleveland sent away in the deal has remained on the radar since the move, and his rise has only added to the sense that this was one of those transactions that could linger for a while in the organizations memory.
What makes it sting beyond the player evaluation is the broader cost to Clevelands pipeline, since the trade also sent a competitive balance draft pick out the door. For a club trying to keep its roster stocked and its future options open, that is the part of the story that keeps mattering long after the original deal is done, especially if Wilkinson keeps trending toward the majors. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have Found The Impact Bat Their Lineup Desperately Needs
Ryan Cesarini has gone from a relatively modest draft name to one of the most intriguing bats in the Guardians system. The 2024 pick has taken a major step forward at Double-A Akron, where his recent stretch has been loud enough to turn heads well beyond Clevelands player development staff. With a .385/.449/.782 line, eight homers and six stolen bases in just 21 games, he has looked like a hitter forcing his way into the conversation about the organizations long-term lineup help.
The surge has been so pronounced that analyst Thomas Nestico labeled Cesarini the hottest prospect in baseball, a reflection of how quickly his stock has risen. For now, though, the Guardians are still mapping out a slower path, intent on letting him keep developing in the upper minors before any big league decision comes into focus. If the bat keeps playing like this, Cleveland may have found a future impact piece worth the wait. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A New Aggression Test As Injuries Force Decisions
Injuries have nudged the Guardians into another roster conversation at a time when every move feels a little more loaded than usual. Chase DeLauter and Colin Holderman are both dealing with issues that could force Cleveland to reshuffle, and the front office is once again weighing how aggressively it wants to answer a short-term problem without creating a longer-term one.
One internal path under discussion would involve promoting a prospect to help patch the gaps, but that kind of step comes with roster implications the organization has to consider carefully. After a trade deadline that already asked the Guardians to show some conviction, this latest test is less about finding a stopgap than it is about whether they are willing to keep pushing when the margins get tighter. [Read more 🡒]