The Cleveland Guardians were dealt their fourth straight loss and sixth in their last seven games, falling 8-4 against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field on Wednesday afternoon. It was the first sweep they have suffered all year.
When the pitching isn’t working, the Guardians don’t have the offense to withstand it and often have a hard time getting back into games. The pitching staff has allowed 28 runs in those four losses, an average of seven per game. That’s just not going to cut it.
In the end, it didn’t matter that Cleveland held an edge over the Yankees before the series. They missed some key chances this week and were dominated in the finale, leading to the unexpected sweep.
The @Yankees sweep the Guardians and win their 4th straight! pic.twitter.com/Cr6fLlXNCy
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2026
The usually reliable left-hander Parker Messick allowed a career-high five runs (four earned) in 5.2 innings, conceding five hits and walking three. His four strikeouts weren’t enough to mitigate the damage, as he saw his ERA rise to 2.68.
His counterpart, Carlos Rodon, delivered a quality start and gave the Yankees six strong innings in which he gave up three runs and fanned seven.
The Guardians actually started the game with a bang, with Angel Martinez hitting a leadoff shot, his 11th home run of the season, to take the team’s lead in that particular stat. The Yankees wouldn’t take long to answer, though.
At the top of the second, New York put together a three-run rally to take control of the game. Trent Grisham and Jose Caballero opened that frame with consecutive singles, and came around to score on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s triple. Then, second baseman Travis Bazzana committed a fielding error on a grounder hit by Anthony Volpe to allow Chisholm to score the Yankees’ third run of the game.
The Guardians showed some heart and tied the game in the fourth. Bazzana walked and stole second base, and Stuart Fairchild also worked a base on balls. Daniel Schneemann flied out, but Austin Hedges hit an RBI double to bring Bazzana home and cut the Yankees’ lead to just one run.
Brayan Rocchio then hit a sac fly to drive in Fairchild with the run that tied the game. Unfortunately, the pitching staff couldn’t hold New York’s offense for long.
In the sixth, Caballero drove in Grisham with a sac fly to make things 4-3. Later in the inning, Volpe hit a line drive that fell for a double, scoring Chisholm to give the Yanks a two-run lead. A Paul Goldschmidt RBI single brought Volpe home with New York’s sixth run.
An inning later, in the seventh, Caballero plated another run with a single, and Chisholm’s groundout allowed Grisham to score the eighth run.
Not only did Messick allow a career-high five runs, but Matt Festa also surrendered one more and Codi Heuer two. It just wasn’t a good day for Cleveland’s pitchers.
Hedges hit his second double of the game in the ninth to produce the Guardians’ fourth run, but they couldn’t come any closer than that and lost. Martinez went 2-for-5 with a homer, and the catcher had a nice 2-for-4 showing with two RBI.
Bazzana went 1-for-3 with a walk, a run, and a steal, and Fairchild scored twice.
The Guardians will rest on Thursday and then start a series with the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
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