The Cleveland Guardians reached 10,000 all-time wins on Saturday in a much-needed 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres to keep pace with the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. Cleveland is just 8-18 since the All-Star break and now has a chance to win this series on Sunday ahead of a nice stretch beginning on Monday that will see the Guards face five teams in a row with losing records.
The hero of the day was Joey Cantillo, who gave up a single in the first inning and then completely shut the Padres down afterwards. It was the only hit San Diego got all day and Cantillo made it through six innings before the bullpen slammed the door shut, which represented the end of a fairly concerning trend for the young lefty.
Tim Stebbins of WEWS shared that this was the first time Cantillo has completed six innings since June 26th, breaking a trend of eight consecutive outings falling short of that milestone.
“Cantillo goes 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K First start of 6+ innings since June 26. Went less than 6 in eight straight outings (includes his rain-shortened outing on Sunday in Chicago),” Stebbins wrote.
Cantillo goes 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
First start of 6+ innings since June 26. Went less than 6 in eight straight outings (includes his rain-shortened outing on Sunday in Chicago).
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) August 16, 2026
Gavin Williams hasn’t completed six innings in each of his last three starts and Parker Messick has fallen short in three of his five starts since the break. Foster Griffin has pitched just nine innings in his two starts since being acquired prior to the trade deadline as well, so this has been a widespread issue with the rotation during this losing skid that has put too much pressure on the bullpen.
The offense shouldered the brunt of the blame for the team falling short in the playoffs over the past couple of years, but the rotation’s failure to get deep into games is also an issue. Williams and Messick had no problem getting through six or seven innings earlier in the year and Tanner Bibee has been consistently delivering long outings lately, so this rotation is capable of adding more length to the equation if need be.
These are the dog days of summer and the Guardians’ rotation has had extraordinary healthy in 2026, so it’s not the worst thing in the world that they haven’t been going deep into games as often lately. That being said, this trend will need to continue turning in a positive direction for Cleveland to make up this deficit and win the division again.
NEXT: Guardians Reliever Suffers Concerning Injury
