CLEVELAND – For the first time in 2026, baseball was back at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, as the Cleveland Guardians hosted the Chicago Cubs for their Home Opener. 

What started off as a slow game officially for both teams ended with a 4-1 Guardians win. 

Here are four takeaways from Cleveland’s first home game of the new season. 

When Joey Cantillo has his changeup on point, he has the potential to be an elite pitcher. Thankfully for the Guardians, their starter had one of his best pitches working on Friday, and the Cubs had no answers for it.

Of the 82 pitches Cantillo threw, 23 of them were the changeup, and that pitch alone is what did the most damage against Chicago. The left-hander generated six whiffs and only allowed one hit on the pitch. Combine that with his 91 mph fastball, and the Cubs had no answers for Cantillo’s pitch mix on Friday.

By the time Cantillo’s start was over, he pitched 5.1 innings, gave up four hits, issued two walks, and struck out six batters. The only run Cleveland’s starter allowed was after a bloop double from Pete Crow-Armstrong that landed between Jose Ramirez and Gabriel Arias after miscommunication.

The Guardians should certainly be pleased with Cantillo’s outing in their first home game of the year. 

Chase DeLauter took the season by storm with his four home runs, but he’s just as capable of producing base hits, too, and he showed that during the home opener.

The rookie ended with three big hits, with his biggest first game-altering hit in the fifth inning. With Daniel Schneemann at third base and Gabriel Arias on second base, DeLauter scorched a ball to left field, scoring Schneemann and tying the game.

If the RBI base hit wasn’t enough, DeLauter extended Cleveland’s lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning. This time, it was a home run, a two-run shot off Hunter Harvey. 

Once again, DeLauter’s showing he can manufacture runs in a variety of ways, which is exactly what the Guardians need out of that two-hole spot. 

After Arias seemingly called off Ramirez and let PCA’s hit fall in front of him, the Cubs superstar came around to score. Technically, it wasn’t scored as an error, but it was certainly a mistake that allowed a run to score.

Then, in the fifth inning, it was Arias who was thrown out at the plate to end what looked like the start of a big scoring opportunity for the Guardians. To be fair, Arias was being waved home by Cleveland’s third base coach, Roughie Odor.

Give Arias credit, though. He made up for a pair of miscues and gave the Guardians the lead in the seventh inning with a go-ahead, opposite-field, solo home run. Cleveland didn’t look back after this. 

Daniel Schneemann made the Opening Day roster as a utility player and depth piece, but he continues to make an impact and earn more playing time. That continued during Friday’s home opener with Schneemann making an impact both in the field and the batter’s box.

Schneemann scored Cleveland’s first run of the game after ripping a leadoff hustle double. The ball left his bat at 106.0 mph, continuing a trend of hard-hit balls to start the season.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Schneemann robbed Matt Shaw of extra base hits with a spectacular running catch in center field. 

Looking at what the Guardians were able to do against the Cubs, there continue to be reasons to be optimistic about what Cleveland has the potential to do in 2026. 

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