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Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Guardians, Royals battle with eye on wild-card race
July 27 - When the Kansas City Royals host the Cleveland Guardians in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon, both teams will have plenty on their minds. In addition to a tight AL wild-card race, both teams are monitoring the fast-approaching trade deadline on Thursday. After the teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, Cleveland sits three games behind the final wild-card spot, while Kansas City is 4 1/2 games back. The Royals won the first game on Saturday 5-3 in the 10th inning on Jonathan India's three-run, walk-off homer against Emmanuel Clase before the Guardians won the nightcap 6-4. Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan hit a two-run home run in the second game, giving him three homers in his last three games. He hit only six in his first 95 games. Guardians infielder Brayan Rocchio started at second base for the first time in his career. He moved from shortstop to make room for Gabriel Arias, who returned from the injured list. "Brayan Rocchio is one of the best infielders in the game, so I have all the confidence in the world," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. The Royals played the second game without right fielder Jac Caglianone, who suffered a left hamstring strain in the series opener. The team is awaiting more information before determining if he'll need to go on the 10-day injured list. "Don't know the severity and just know the exam didn't match the image," Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. "The image was better than the exam, so that is really encouraging." To help address Caglianone's possible absence, Kansas City added to its outfield on Saturday by acquiring Randal Grichuk from the Arizona Diamondbacks for reliever Andrew Hoffmann. Grichuk, 33, batted .240 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs with Arizona. The Royals hope the right-handed hitter can provide some much-needed balance to their lineup. "When you have a lot of left-handed bats and not the right-handed bats that have proven that they can hit left-handed pitching really well, at times you can feel a little shorthanded," Picollo said. "This is just trying to make our roster deeper, make us better, and allow us to be more competitive." Sunday's series finale will feature a pair of left-handers as Cleveland's Joey Cantillo (2-0, 3.91 ERA) faces Kansas City's Noah Cameron (4-4, 2.61). Cantillo, 25, allowed one run on two hits over five innings while throwing a season-high 95 pitches in a 6-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. He has a 4.08 ERA in four starts since replacing Luis Ortiz in the rotation on July 3. "We've seen a couple outings now that the more I'm filling up the zone, the more I'm challenging guys, good things are going to happen," Cantillo said. Cantillo is set to make his first career start versus the Royals. He has made three relief appearances covering 4 2/3 innings against them, allowing two runs in 4 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old Cameron yielded four runs over six innings in a 12-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday. He struck out seven with no walks. Cameron owns a 2.22 ERA with a 27-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 24 1/3 innings in four starts this month. He will face Cleveland for the first time in his career. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brayan Rocchio's diving catch
Brayan Rocchio goes full extension to make a tremendous diving catch in the 5th inning
Washington Post
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Angel Martinez's grand slam in 10th inning gives Guardians win over Astros
HOUSTON — Angel Martínez hit a grand slam off closer Josh Hader with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 10-6 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night. José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio also homered to help the Guardians beat the Astros for a second straight night after entering the series on a 10-game skid.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Guardians manager breaks silence after snapping losing skid
Cleveland Guardians fans, you may now exhale. Your winning drought has come to an end. After finding themselves with lesser runs in the past 10 games, the team finally collected their bearings and downed the Houston Astros 7-5 on Monday. Advertisement And needless to say, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was nothing short of elated, praising the play from Brayan Rocchio, who delivered a two-run double which kickstarted the run production for the team in their long-awaited victory. "He had such an unbelievable game," Vogt said to the press after the game. "The two sac-bunts to put us in good positions and defensive plays and then the double, obviously we needed something like that. We put up four, and then they put one up, and we come right back and put up two more. That's who we are, and we just haven't been doing that as of late, so it felt really good and a big, big impact by Rocchio." But it was a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning by David Fry that was the cherry on top of the win at Daikin Park Monday, giving the team just enough insurance to back the Astros against the wall and close out the game. "I mean, obviously, David hasn't swung the bat the way he wants to," Vogt said on the slugger's offensive performance. "He'll continue to get at-bats, continue to play, and so, to see one go over the wall on a hit like that for an insurance run, that really gets your confidence going." Advertisement Though the 10-game skid has severely damaged their playoff chances, Vogt refuses to give up all hope, and even praised his team for their endurance. "We know it's not over over. Every team goes through a stretch, but 10 days is a long time. This group never wavered and never stopped working." Luckily for the team, the All-Star break is near, giving them plenty of time to regroup and still make a charge for the postseason.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Angel Martínez's grand slam in 10th inning gives Guardians win over Astros
Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, right, watches his home run along with Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader (71) reacts after giving up a grand slam to Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Houston Astros during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Houston Astros during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, right, watches his home run along with Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader (71) reacts after giving up a grand slam to Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Houston Astros during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) HOUSTON (AP) — Angel Martínez hit a grand slam off closer Josh Hader with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 10-6 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night. José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio also homered to help the Guardians beat the Astros for a second straight night after entering the series on a 10-game skid. Advertisement Out for a second inning after throwing a scoreless ninth and with a runner on starting on second, Hader (5-2) intentionally walked Ramírez before walking Carlos Santana to load the bases. Hader struck out pinch-hitter Johnathan Rodríguez before Martínez sent a sinker 344 feet, into the first row of the seats in left field to put the Guardians on top. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out one in a scoreless 10th to end it after Jakob Junis (2-1) struck out two in the ninth to earn the win. Houston scored two runs in the eighth inning, with an RBI single from Jose Altuve, to tie it. Altuve had two hits and drove in four runs, and rookie Cam Smith added three hits. Advertisement Houston starter Hunter Brown, who entered with an MLB-leading 1.82 ERA, yielded six hits and a season-high six runs in six innings. There was one on with one out in the first when Ramírez homered for a second consecutive game, giving the Guardians a 2-0 lead. The Astros cut the lead to 2-1 when Isaac Paredes scored on a sacrifice fly by Altuve in the bottom of the inning. Rocchio doubled to start the third before scoring on a one-out double by Nolan Jones, making it 3-1. A two-out single by Daniel Schneemann scored two more, extending the lead to 5-1. Altuve's two-run double cut the lead to 6-3 with no outs in the fifth. Houston got within 6-4 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Victor Caratini. Advertisement Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo allowed five hits and three runs with seven strikeouts in four-plus innings. Key moment The grand slam by Martínez into the Crawford Boxes. Key stat It's the first time Cleveland has won back-to-back games since beating the Athletics June 21-22. Up next Houston LHP Brandon Walter (1-1, 4.15 ERA) opposes RHP Slade Cecconi (3-4, 3.56) when the series concludes Wednesday. ___ AP MLB:
