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Cleveland Baseball Insider

A Slow Start and Fielding Errors Derail Guardians Series Finale vs. Yankees

Under the bright lights of Progressive Field, the New York Yankees had the Cleveland Guardians' number.
Cade Cracas|
Jun 5, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick (77) leaves the game during the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
Jun 5, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick (77) leaves the game during the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images | Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Guardians

For the first time this season, and the first time since August 22, 2024, the Cleveland Guardians have been swept.

Following a series loss to the Texas Rangers on the road in Arlington this past weekend, the Guardians returned home to Progressive Field for a three-game home series against the New York Yankees beginning on Monday night.

And while it looked like the Guardians were going to be able to at least snag one game, second-half pitching cost the team every outing.

On Wednesday, June 10, the Guardians played host to the Yankees for the series finale, putting together a competitive showing until the sixth inning.

With the game level through five innings, in the top of the sixth, starting pitcher Parker Messick and reliever Matt Festa hit road bumps, giving up a combined three runs to the Yankees. The final favored the team from the Bronx, 8-4.

Unfortunately, such a showing wasn't too surprising.

While the Guardians' late-game pitching has been struggling lately, the Yankees just all-around looked like the better team. Their arms were lights out, and their bats were flowing, giving up just over three runs a game while scoring an average of five or more.

The Rocky Start and Bullpen Blunders

Messick began with a good first inning, sending the Yankees down in four batters. He did allow a walk, but kept his command together.

Angel Martinez led off the bottom half of the first with a leadoff home run, giving the Guardians a 1-0 lead. That edge, though, would vanish just minutes later.

In the second, Messick gave up back-to-back singles. When fielding the second knock, Parker Messick threw the ball past first baseman Rhys Hoskins, which resulted in both runners moving into scoring position. From there, Jazz Chisholm ripped a triple to send the Yankees ahead, 2-1, before Anthony Volpe reached on a fielding error that scored Chisholm.

Practically out of the blue, the Guardians were down 3-1.

Messick would go on to pitch through 5.2 innings, giving up two more runs in the sixth inning, one earned and one unearned, to finish his day. In his place, a combination of Matt Festa, Codi Heuer and Will Dion would conclude the contest.

Festa gave up two hits, one walk and one earned run, while Heuer gave up two hits, two earned runs, two walks and struck out one.

Dion ended up going through 2.1 innings, striking out three batters and allowing just two hits. In his limited opportunities since being called up, he has put together some quality relief innings.

An Attempted Rally in the Fourth

Bazzana and Stuart Fairchild walked to begin the fourth, getting a bit of traction on the base paths for Cleveland's offense.

Just two batters later, one of the Guardians' better bats this season, Austin Hedges, smacked a double into right field to send Bazzan around the bases to score. That brought the game within a single run.

With a deep strike to right field, Brayan Rocchio was able to score Fairchild on a sacrifice fly.

After that, though, Cleveland's offense dissipated, going 1, 2, 3 in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings.

Hedges did smack an RBI double in the ninth, cutting the difference to four, but it wasn't enough to spark anything.

They finished with just six hits and four walks as a team.

Moving On and Looking Ahead

There isn't much time for the Guardians to hang their heads.

This weekend, they'll welcome the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series starting on Friday, June 12, at 7:10 p.m. EST. With the Chicago White Sox right on the Guardians' tail, slipping up and dropping the series to the Tigers could be a big mid-season hit.

While the group is still very young and attempting to address growing pains, this rut the team is in does spark some concern moving forward.

It'll be curious to see if any promotions are made before the Tigers come into town, especially with the bullpen needing a bit more flexibility following the past few series.

The Guardians have already taken down the Tigers in a four-game series earlier this season, taking 3-of-4 in Detroit. They'll look to replicate such efforts beginning on Friday night.

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Cade Cracas
CADE CRACAS

Cade Cracas is a sports media professional with experience in play-by-play, broadcasting and digital storytelling. He is a recent graduate of Ashland University with degrees in digital media production and journalism.

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