Cleveland heads into the All-Star break exactly the way every team hopes to, playing its best baseball of the season at precisely the right moment. The Guardians closed out the first half with a 5-2 win over Miami on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of a Marlins club that entered the series among the hottest teams in baseball and pushing Cleveland’s winning streak to four games. That stretch of form could not have come at a better time, with the Guardians now sitting at 51-46 and locked in a virtual tie for first place with Chicago heading into the four-day layoff. Cleveland shared the accomplishment with its fan base once the final out was recorded.
“Winners of four straight as the first half comes to a close!” Guardians posted.
Winners of four-straight as the first half comes to a close!#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWWWins pic.twitter.com/NSJsXdxYKl
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 12, 2026
A year ago, this same point on the calendar told a much different story. Cleveland limped into last season’s All-Star break at 46-49, sitting 12 games behind a division-leading Detroit team before eventually needing the largest late-season comeback in major league history just to steal the AL Central on the final day. This year’s version of the Guardians has avoided that kind of hole entirely, and Sunday’s win over Miami served as a fitting example of the identity that has carried this team through a first half full of adversity, timely pitching, situational hitting and defense that has bailed out its pitching staff more than once.
Travis Bazzana set the tone immediately, drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base for his 13th theft of the season before Brayan Rocchio and Kyle Manzardo strung together consecutive hits to stake Cleveland to an early two-run cushion. Left-hander Joey Cantillo took it from there, working around a bases loaded jam in the second inning, and he did not allow another Miami threat to fully develop the rest of his outing. Cantillo finished the first half on an especially strong note, going 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA across his last six starts, and Sunday’s line of one run allowed on six hits over five innings fit right into that recent form.
Chase DeLauter capped the scoring with a towering homer in the ninth, his 11th of the season and third of this road trip alone, pulling him into a tie with the injured Angel Martinez atop the team’s home run leaderboard.
Cleveland now gets a rare stretch of true rest before returning to Progressive Field on Friday to open a series against Pittsburgh, carrying real momentum into a second half that figures to be every bit as competitive as the division race that defined the first three and a half months of the season.
NEXT: Guardians' Margin For Error In 2nd Half Will Be Much Smaller
