If Friday’s matinee was the Brayan Rocchio game and the nightcap belonged to Travis Bazzana, Saturday’s clash between the Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers was essentially the Riley Greene show. The outfielder racked up four hits, including two home runs, and drove in four runs in the Tigers’ 6-0 win over the Guardians.
Cleveland’s record fell to 72-71. If the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, they will tie the Guardians for the third and final Wild Card spot in the American League.
Tough one.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/BLClkdzcMV
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 6, 2026
Parker Messick gave the Guardians a quality start, allowing three runs in six innings. It was actually one of his finest starts of the season, racking up a whopping 12 strikeouts, but two of the seven hits he conceded were home runs, and that ended up affecting his line. He was bested by fellow left-hander Framber Valdez, who blanked the Guardians’ offense for seven innings. He allowed just three hits and a walk, fanning three.
Greene gave his team an early lead in the first frame, belting a solo homer off Messick. The talented slugger struck again in the third frame, this time with an RBI single that drove in Gleyber Torres and made it a 2-0 ballgame.
Messick (11-9, 2.53 ERA) kept the Tigers off the board until the sixth inning. There, he surrendered his third run of the night, and it was again Greene with his 17th homer of the year and second of the game.
One inning later, in the seventh, Greene hit an RBI double that drove in Torres with the fourth run off Matt Festa. Dillon Dingler then hit a sac fly that brought home Hao-Yu Lee, and Ben Malgeri extended the Tigers’ lead to 6-0 with an RBI single, plating Greene.
Austin Peterson made his MLB debut with two strong innings in relief of Festa, conceding one hit and no runs. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out three.
The Guardians will try to secure a series win on Sunday, starting at 1:40 pm ET. Gavin Williams will face Jackson Jobe, trying to return his team to its winning ways.
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