The Cleveland Guardians finally took a step in the right direction on Wednesday, leveling their series against the Detroit Tigers with a 6-4 win at Comerica Park. They had lost Tuesday’s opener, but this win moves their record to 59-62.
The Guardians still have a lot to prove, but Wednesday’s affair was a must-win one, and they delivered. Cleveland is now just half a game behind the Tigers in the AL Central standings and has a chance to surpass them on Thursday’s finale. The Chicago White Sox, however, remain firmly atop the division.
Okay, yeah, winning feels great.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWins pic.twitter.com/mlzyPFpJsT
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 13, 2026
The Guardians got a solid start from deadline acquisition Foster Griffin. The left-hander held the home team to three runs in five innings, although only one was earned since an error by Jose Ramirez cost him two unearned runs.
Griffin surrendered just four hits and a walk, striking out three. His ERA for the year is now at 3.25 after a phenomenal first four months with the Washington Nationals.
The Guardians struck first in the opening inning. Steven Kwan walked, Chase DeLauter singled, and Ramirez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs, setting up the scene for Jo Adell. The outfielder grounded into a double play, but brought Kwan home for the first run. Angel Martinez then hit one of his two doubles in the night to bring in DeLauter with Cleveland’s second run.
In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Torkelson hit a game-tying, two-run double off Griffin. Both runs were unearned due to Ramirez’s miscue.
Gleyber Torres’ solo home run in the third put the game 3-2 Detroit. It looked like Cleveland was destined for another loss at that point, but Adell found Ramirez on base and brought him home with a two-run, go-ahead blast in the fifth. It was his 18th of the year and second in a Guardians uniform.
Cleveland added two more runs in the seventh. Angel Genao hit a two-bagger that plated Martinez to make things 5-3, and Austin Hedges extended the lead to three runs with an RBI single.
A wild pitch by Cade Smith forced in Detroit’s fourth run, scored by Kevin McGonigle in the eighth. Manager Stephen Vogt asked three more outs from his closer in the ninth, and even though he allowed two runners to reach base and made things hairy, he got the job done thanks in large part to this brilliant play by Brayan Rocchio and Nathaniel Lowe:
Nathaniel Lowe, pick me.
Final: Guardians hold on to beat the Tigers 6-4 pic.twitter.com/82iyczv0XO
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) August 13, 2026
The Guardians’ offense racked up 10 hits, three of them by Martinez and two more by DeLauter. They also walked seven times and struck out just five times. Despite Ramirez’s error, they deserved to win this one.
After Griffin’s outing, Colin Holderman, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, and Smith combined to toss four mostly solid innings of one run.
The rubber match will start at 1:10 pm ET on Thursday. Cleveland will have its best starter, Parker Messick, on the mound and will face Keider Montero.
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