If the first four innings of Saturday’s game were any indication, the Cleveland Guardians looked in control of the situation and well on their way to a win. However, the Kansas City Royals tied things in the fifth and took the lead for good in the sixth in what turned out to be an 8-3 win for them at Progressive Field.
It’s Cleveland’s second straight loss after winning the previous seven games. The negative result puts their record at 68-68. The Guardians are back at .500.
Day baseball again tomorrow.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/q3ZlQGZA8v
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 29, 2026
Left-hander Foster Griffin was actually decent and gave his team five solid innings in which he allowed two runs. He surrendered four hits and a walk while striking out four. The bullpen, particularly Colin Holderman, wasn’t up to the task, though.
The Guardians took the lead in the bottom of the second, when Angel Martinez found Jo Adell on base and belted a two-run home run. Things would get more complicated after that, though.
The Royals finally got to Griffin in the top of the fifth. Three consecutive hits, and the game was tied: a double by Nick Loftin, a single by Tyler Tolbert, and a two-run two-bagger by Isaac Collins.
Holderman took over for Griffin to open the sixth and lost Cleveland the game right there, but it wasn’t all his fault. He gave up four consecutive hits, and one of them was an RBI double by Salvador Perez that gave the Royals a 3-2 lead.
With the bases loaded and no outs, John Rave hit a ground ball to third that looked like it could spark a double play. Instead, Jose Ramirez committed a costly fielding error and Jac Caglianone scored.
Later in the inning, against Erik Sabrowski, Josh Rojas singled in two more runs to extend Kansas City’s lead to 6-2. Then, in the eighth frame, Rojas struck again, this time hitting a two-run shot off Logan Allen to make it an 8-2 ballgame.
Martinez drove in Ramirez in the bottom of the ninth with a single, but there wasn’t much more to do at that point. It was 8-3 Royals, and Cleveland fans went home feeling disappointed for a second straight night.
Martinez went 2-for-4 and drove in every Guardians run on Saturday night. The team as a whole was limited to just five hits.
Among relievers, Matt Festa was the only one with a decent performance, tossing 1.1 perfect innings. Holderman allowed four runs (three earned), Allen conceded two in a couple of innings, and Sabrowski faced three hitters, and two of them reached base.
The series will continue on Sunday, with the Guardians sending their ace Parker Messick to play stopper and the Royals countering with Seth Lugo.
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