Heading into Saturday night, the Cleveland Guardians had lost five of their last six games and eight of their last 10. They were 8-18 in the second half and badly needed a win. Thankfully, they got one, as they beat the San Diego Padres 6-1 and tied the series at Progressive Field.
Joey Cantillo was fantastic on the mound, allowing just one run in six innings on one hit and three walks. He struck out seven and saw his season ERA drop to 3.80.
Won by 5 because we’re not scared of Jayden Daniels.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWins pic.twitter.com/dGtdq52UU0
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 16, 2026
The Guardians are now 60-64 in the season, still fourth in the AL Central. The win was the 10,000th in franchise history, as Cleveland became the third American League team to reach that total.
That's 10,000 wins for Cleveland's baseball franchise, the third American League team to reach that milestone.
They've now won 10,000 of their last 19,507 games.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) August 16, 2026
On a down note, reliever Colin Holderman, who had been struggling a bit in the second half, left the game with a trainer. There will probably be more news on Sunday, but he’s dealing with an injury.
Cantillo started the game with a walk and a single that put men in the corners for San Diego. Manny Machado’s double-play ground ball brought in the first run for the visitors, but cleared the mess on the basepaths. The lefty then proceeded to strike out Ty France to end the inning.
Fortunately for Cantillo, his offense would tie the game almost immediately. With one out in the bottom of the first, Chase DeLauter singled and tried to score from first on Jose Ramirez’s double, but he was out at the plate by a mile. Between the third base coach taking an unnecessary risk sending him and the rookie taking a wide turn at third base, the play was doomed from the start.
Baseball gave the Guardians a second chance, though, and Jo Adell hit an RBI double that plated Ramirez with the tying run.
The Guardians took the lead in the bottom of the second. With Angel Genao at first and one out, catcher Patrick Bailey hit a double that set up another close play at home plate. This time, the rookie beat the throw, and Cleveland was up 2-1.
Cleveland hitters clearly brought in the extra-base pop to this one. In the bottom of the fifth, Steven Kwan hit another two-bagger to score Petey Halpin and put the game 3-1, and Ramirez, who looked fresh after a day off on Friday, hit a sac fly to score Kwan with the fourth run.
Cleveland added two more in the bottom of the seventh, and it was definitely what you would call “Guards Ball”. Steven Kwan and Chase DeLauter executed a double steal, and a bad throw by the Padres brought in the two runs.
Holderman, Hunter Gaddis, and Erik Sabrowski each logged a scoreless appearance to seal the Guardians’ victory. On offense, Ramirez went 1-for-3 with his first extra-base hit since June 13, a double; and Kwan, DeLauter, and Adell each racked up two hits.
The Guardians didn’t hit a home run, but doubled five times and accumulated 11 hits. Now, they will go for the series win on Sunday behind Tanner Bibee at 1:40 pm ET.
NEXT: Guardians Injured Pitcher Impresses In First Rehab Start In Triple-A
