The Cleveland Guardians came into Friday’s game having lost six of their last nine games, despite managing to avoid a sweep on Wednesday. Replacing Jose Ramirez and other injured offensive stars has been an uphill battle, and it was more of the same in the series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field.
The Guardians’ offense was limited to four hits in a 3-1 loss to the M’s. They are now 42-40 for the season as a whole.
See you tomorrow.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/TkG9oAbHj6
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 27, 2026
The Guardians were the first team to score. With one out in the first inning, Kyle Manzardo hit a single to center field. Brayan Rocchio flied out, but the suddenly red-hot Khalil Watson doubled to left field to bring Manzardo home.
Wats on fire! 🔥#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/bP4EKr473Z
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 26, 2026
Joey Cantillo was really solid from the mound on Friday, but he wasn’t perfect. In the top of the third, rookie infielder Colt Emerson tied the game with a solo home run. That was Castillo’s only blemish in an otherwise impressive night.
Then, after he was taken out of the game in the seventh frame, the Mariners scored the go-ahead run against lefty reliever Tim Herrin. After walking Cal Raleigh and Dominic Canzone, the southpaw got Josh Naylor to ground into a double play. However, JP Crawford’s RBI knock with two outs gave Seattle the lead.
One inning later, in the eighth, Julio Rodriguez drove in Emerson with a single against Daniel Espino to give the Mariners a much-needed cushion to face the last two frames, which their bullpen solved with no issues.
Cantillo managed to lower his ERA to a cool 3.87 with six strong frames in which he surrendered one run on two hits and two walks, striking out nine. Unfortunately for him, his Seattle counterpart, Luis Castillo, was just as good, also allowing a single run in six innings. The difference in this one was the bullpen.
Cooper Ingle made his MLB debut in this one after being called up from Triple-A, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
Only Manzardo, Rocchio, Watson, and Steven Kwan were able to rack up hits for Cleveland. It’s hard to win games with such an unproductive offense.
The two squads will square off again on Saturday, with Slade Cecconi taking the hill for the home club, facing the always effective Logan Gilbert.
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