The Cleveland Guardians snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided being swept on Thursday, beating the Minnesota Twins 5-2. With the win, they are now half a game behind the Chicago White Sox for the AL Central lead and two full games ahead of Minnesota.
The White Sox are also playing on Thursday, so Cleveland has a chance to tie them at the top if Chicago loses.
Happy flight to the 305!#GuardsBall | #GuardiWins pic.twitter.com/76EvtcJS9H
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 9, 2026
The Guardians needed an ace-like start from their pitcher, and they got one from Gavin Williams. The big right-hander allowed just two runs in seven strong innings, striking out 11 and walking just one. He surrendered just three hits on his way to his tenth win of the year.
Gabriel Arias opened the scoring for Cleveland with his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot against Twins starter Bailey Ober in the second inning.
Tristan Gray found the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth and singled to bring home the tying run against Williams. It didn’t take long for Cleveland to regain the lead, though.
Rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter found a high fastball and sent it 394 feet into the Minnesota afternoon to put the game 2-1 Cleveland in the top of the sixth. The Guardians would make it 4-1 in the top of the seventh, with Brayan Rocchio belting a two-run double that scored Patrick Bailey and Steven Kwan.
Royce Lewis did some damage in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run off Williams, in what turned out to be the righty’s last inning.
Bailey went yard in the top of the ninth, for the third time this year, to extend the Guardians’ lead to three runs and give the bullpen enough cushion to maneuver without risking the victory, which is what happened on Wednesday.
Hunter Gaddis took care of the eighth, and Cade Smith solved the ninth without incident to notch his 27th save of the year. He lowered his ERA to 2.76.
The Guardians’ offense racked up six hits in the game. Oddly enough, all of them went for extra bases: doubles by Rocchio, Travis Bazzana, and Daniel Schneemann, and homers by Arias, DeLauter, and Bailey.
The 48-46 Guardians will now travel to Miami to face the Marlins in a three-game set this weekend before the All-Star break.
NEXT: Guardians Announce 4 Roster Moves On Thursday
