Cade Smith Has Honest Admission About Loss To Yankees

The Cleveland Guardians did not get the result they wanted Monday night. But when Cade Smith spoke after the 7-5 extra-inning loss to New York, he did not make excuses. He acknowledged what this rivalry has become and what it demands every single time these two clubs take the field.

Mason Horodyski of WEWS caught up with Smith in the Cleveland clubhouse after the game.

“Every game we played with them has been gritty,” Smith said.

"Every game we played with them has been gritty"#Guardians Cade Smith on the intensity of Cleveland's last few games against the Yankees#GuardsBall @WEWS pic.twitter.com/MeCPIIN10L

— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) June 9, 2026

Cleveland and New York have played five games against each other in the last two weeks, and not one of them has been a comfortable win for either side. The Guardians won two of three in the Bronx with games decided by one run. Monday night went to extra innings before Cody Bellinger delivered the knockout blow in the tenth. This is not a rivalry defined by blowouts. It is defined by attrition, by late-inning decisions, and by which team makes one more play when the margin for error disappears.

Smith entered Monday’s game in the eighth inning with one out and runners on the corners after Hunter Gaddis ran into trouble. He got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that Brayan Rocchio turned into an inning-ending double play with one of the most impressive defensive plays of the Cleveland season. Smith then retired the Yankees in order in the ninth, keeping the game tied at five and giving the Guardians a chance to win it in the bottom half. That chance never materialized.

The right-hander has been one of the most reliable pieces in the Cleveland bullpen all season, and his performance Monday night was a continuation of that consistency. He did his job. The outcome was decided elsewhere, in the tenth inning.

Cleveland drops to 37-31 with two games remaining in this series at Progressive Field. The Yankees have now won two straight against the Guardians after losing the first two meetings in New York. Every game has been gritty. That is not going to change Tuesday night.