The Cleveland Guardians had to survive some scares and actually come from behind a few times to beat the Kansas City Royals 12-9 at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night. As a result of their win, they remain at the top of the AL Central standings despite the Chicago White Sox’s victory, with an 84-76 record.
As a reminder, Cleveland needs to finish with a better record than Chicago to claim its third straight division title. The White Sox own the tiebreaker, so a tie at the top benefits them. For now, they are one game behind the Guardians.
Weird game, but a win is a win. 🤷♂️#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/HNb8w7xKfK
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 26, 2026
Friday wasn’t Gavin Williams’ finest day, but the offense was there to pick him up. The right-hander allowed four runs in 3.1 innings of work, surrendering five hits and walking four. He struck out four hitters, but allowed too much traffic on the basepaths to keep the Royals’ offense at bay.
Cleveland landed the first blow in the first frame thanks to the red-hot Angel Martinez. The outfielder hit a two-run single with one out, plating Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez.
The Royals fought back and trimmed the Guardians’ lead in the bottom of the inning. Jac Caglianone’s double brought home Bobby Witt Jr.
Austin Hedges re-established the two-run lead with his sixth home run of the season in the top of the second, against Royals starter Noah Cameron. Kansas City answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, as Carter Jensen hit the first of two homers in the night, a two-run shot that also plated John Rave.
In the top of the fourth, Jose Ramirez drove in Hedges with a sac fly to give Cleveland a brief 4-3 lead. It would evaporate in a matter of minutes, though.
Jensen tied the game with a sac fly, driving in Rave again, and Caglianone singled in Witt to give Kansas a 5-4 lead. Guardians’ utilityman David Fry had other plans, though.
Fry homered with Jo Adell on board in the fifth, flipping the score in Cleveland’s favor. A few plays later, Travis Bazzana scored the Guardians’ seventh run on a groundout by Brayan Rocchio.
Gotta get down on Fryday.#GuardsBall | #StandGuard pic.twitter.com/caKb0NVoEa
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 26, 2026
Jensen, however, tied the game again in the bottom of the eighth with another two-run shot, this time against Hunter Gaddis.
Cleveland wouldn’t surrender, though, and put up a five-spot in the ninth after taking advantage of Nate Pearson’s control issues. He walked the bases loaded with one out, then got Kwan to ground into a force out at home.
With two outs, Jose Ramirez worked a base on balls to give Cleveland an 8-7 lead. Chase DeLauter did the same, this time against Nolan Hoffman, and the Guardians were now up 9-7. Petey Halpin imitated them to extend the lead to three, just before Martinez’s two-run double made things 12-7.
The Guardians needed the insurance runs, as Salvador Perez’s two-run shot against Matt Festa in the bottom of the ninth made things interesting. The right-hander found the last out a batter later, though, and secured Cleveland’s win.
Martinez went 2-for-5 with a whopping four RBI, and Fry drove in two and left the yard. The Guardians’ defense committed two errors, but racked up nine hits, scored 12 runs, and walked 13 times against just three strikeouts. That was enough to get the W.
The series will continue on Saturday, with Michael Wacha facing Tanner Bibee. Both weekend games are must-win affairs for Cleveland.
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