On Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians were down 7-0 after the third inning. They couldn’t burn their entire bullpen on a game that looked like a lost cause, so manager Stephen Vogt opted to leave his starter, Joey Cantillo, as long as he could.
The left-hander wound up allowing nine runs in 5.1 innings, but only four of them were earned. Angel Genao’s costly mistake in the second frame led to multiple unearned runs, so Cantillo wasn’t as bad as the stat line suggested. Still, he wasn’t up to the task.
It happens sometimes, though. The southpaw has been excellent this season, with a 3.81 ERA and nine wins to his name. Vogt discussed his outing and praised him for settling in after the fateful second inning.
“It was interesting. After the 2nd, I thought he settled in pretty good. Got into some trouble there in the 2nd, then obviously, we gave them a couple of runs, then they attacked on the homer after that. I thought [Joey Cantillo] threw the ball really well, just got himself into some trouble, and we weren’t able to help him get out of it,” Vogt said.
“It was interesting”
(Via #Guardians Zoom) Stephen Vogt breaks down Joey Cantillo’s outing vs the Blue Jays#GuardsBall x @WEWS pic.twitter.com/sYMZeJfobT
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) September 3, 2026
When Genao’s miscue happened, Cantillo had the bases loaded and two outs, down 1-0. Had the rookie shortstop made the seemingly routine play, the inning would have been over, and the game would have been much closer. Instead, the error directly led to two more runs, and after that, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-out, three-run shot that made things 6-0.
The Blue Jays ended up prevailing 11-0, but it could have been a much closer game. It’s baseball. It happens from time to time.
The mediocre outing won’t erase what Cantillo has done for Cleveland this season. He has been a steady arm in the bottom of the rotation, right after the big guys like Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, and Tanner Bibee. Vogt knows the left-hander’s worth and won’t fret just because he didn’t quite have it on one night.
In the end, Cantillo at least gave the Guardians some much-needed length, as he pitched into the sixth inning. The bullpen is now fresh for the series finale on Thursday afternoon.
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