The Cleveland Guardians, who had managed to salvage their series finale against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, are apparently eager to begin another winning streak. On Friday, they were able to hold off the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park and secured a 3-2 victory.
Now, the Guardians are 49-46 and will wake up on Saturday in first place in the AL Central. Whether they will be alone there or not will depend on whether the Chicago White Sox can win their game.
Fried the Fish!#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/bAooBdMJei
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 11, 2026
Left-hander Parker Messick pitched like the ace he has become and held the Marlins to just one run and one hit all night, throughout six innings. That hit happened to be a solo home run.
Messick is now 8-5 on the season as he heads to the All-Star Game. His ERA is now a brilliant 2.73, and even though he didn’t have full command of the strike zone in this one, having walked four and struck out just one, he did just enough to baffle Marlins hitters all night.
Messick and Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara traded zeroes for the first three frames until the latter blinked in the fourth. Brayan Rocchio opened the inning with a single, followed by a gargantuan two-run blast by Chase DeLauter, his 10th of the year.
DeLauter was a thorn in Miami’s side, racking up two hits, scoring a run, and driving in two. He continues his red-hot form and is carrying the team.
The Guardians scored another run in the fifth to extend their lead to three runs. Travis Bazzana drove in Austin Hedges with a sac fly.
Heriberto Hernandez broke the no-no in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run. Then, an inning later, with Erik Sabrowski on the mound, Leo Jimenez belted another solo shot to cut the Guardians’ lead to just one run.
Sabrowski, who has been struggling in recent games, just didn’t have it, so manager Stephen Vogt brought in Colin Holderman. The right-hander allowed a single that put the tying and winning runs on base for Miami, but got two huge outs to end the inning.
Hunter Gaddis then took care of the eighth, and Cade Smith notched his 28th save of the year with a clean ninth.
Tanner Bibee (2-9, 4.06) will take the ball for the Guardians at 4:10 pm ET on Saturday, facing Eury Perez (5-6, 3.84)
NEXT: Guardians Urged To Make A Move On 2 Trade Deadline Targets
