The Cleveland Guardians win the series opener over the Boston Red Sox thanks to another dominant Cade Smith save.
When in doubt, call on Cade Smith.
That’s the formula that’s worked for the Cleveland Guardians over the last month, and it worked once again in their 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday evening.
At this point in the season, every game is a must-win for this Guardians team that’s still looking to lock up a playoff spot and is in the hunt for the division title. Cleveland proved that tonight with how it deployed its pitching staff.
Parker Messick took the mound for the Guardians, and he continued his “extradinary” rookie season with another solid outing against an opposing lineup that has already punched its ticket to the postseason.
Cleveland’s starter ended up throwing 5.0 innings, allowed five hits, gave up one earned run, issued one walk, and punched out five Boston hitters. Messick now dropped his season ERA to 2.55 and is third in the American League with 183.1 innings pitched this season.
At one point early on in the game, Messick was in line for the victory as the Guardinas scratched two runs across in the second inning, thanks to an RBI from David Fry and Brayan Rocchio.
Cleveland maintained its one-run lead through the middle innings thanks to Tim Herrin and Craig Yoho, who combined to throw a clean sixth inning, and then Erik Sabrowski struck out the side in the second inning.
Sep 22, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Angel Genao (17) makes the final out of the game against 1Boston Red Sox first baseman Nick Sogard (20) in the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn ImagesThe Guardians faced their first true taste of adversity in the game as Hunter Gaddis gave up a lead-off home run to pinch-hitter Mickey Gasper in the eighth inning to tie the game at
This solo shot snapped a streak of 22.1 straight innings of scoreless work by Cleveland’s bullpen, which was the longest of its kind in MLB. More importantly, it tied the game at three runs.
The Guardians did get back in front in the ninth inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nathaniel Lowe, and that’s when Cleveland turned to its All-Star pitcher.
It only took Cade Smith 16 pitches to wrap up the Red Sox lineup. Cleveland’s closer now extends his streak to 11 straight scoreless appearances.
Although the Guardians won, it wasn’t smooth sailing for an offense that has been on a strong run over the last month.
Cleveland tallied 12 hits, but it also stranded 15 runners on base and was 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. This performance comes one game after the Guardians only scored one run during their series win over the Athletics.
Those numbers aren’t a formula to win the division, let alone in the playoffs.
The Guardians finding a way to bounce back and rally late to retake the lead in a hostile environment is a great sign that this young, experienced team is locked in for the postseason, but Cleveland still has a lot of work to do before it shifts its focus to the playoffs.
