Guardians Hold Marlins Back As Brayan Rocchio Produces Another Stellar Outing

The Cleveland Guardians are headed into the 2026 MLB All-Star Break with a bit of momentum.

And just weeks ago, many around the league had counted them out.

On Sunday, July 12, the Guardians capped off a three-game road series against the Miami Marlins with a 5-2 victory, securing a sweep. The Guardians, who have been without Angel Martinez and Jose Ramirez for the past few weeks due to injury, have had to lean into many of it's youngsters.

Early in Sunday's affair, it was runs scored by rookie Travis Bazzana, with Brayan Rocchio helping propel him across home plate.

Rocchio singled to right field to put the Guardians up, 1-0, in the first, before Kyle Manzardo sent Rocchio in for a 2-0 edge on a liner to left field. Being able to jump on Miami that quickly put the team in an excellent spot to keep hold of the outing.

Following the win, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt shared that he was proud of the way the team finished off the pre-All-Star Break road trip.

“Really proud of our guys and how they finished this road trip off," he said postgame. "Really, the last month, with all the ups and downs we have gone through, it was fun to finish it this way.”

After the first-inning runs, Guardians starter Joey Cantillo would hold down the fort on the mound, giving up just a single run in the third. He exited after five, finishing with six hits, two walks and one run allowed, striking out nine along the way.

With yet another excellent performance, Cantillo's season ERA has dropped to 3.56.

"He's really come a long way," said Vogt. "We see what Joey can be, and he's shown that the last, what, 7-8-9 starts now that he's going to attack, he's going to throw strikes, and when he's doing those things, good things are happening."

On the campaign, the 26-year-old has thrown through 101 innings, striking out 105 batters and walking 49. His WHIP has decreased to a mark of 1.40, while his batting average against has also slowly trotted lower, down to a .245, now.

“I think the biggest thing is, every day we’re giving our team a chance to win,” Cantillo said about the pitching staff he has worked alongside this season. “We’re continuing to develop, throwing our best stuff over the plate, one pitch at a time.”

While his efforts gave the Guardians ground to stand on, the offense would add more insurance to the scoreboard in the later stages.

Rocchio smacked a solo home run in the fifth, with Kahlil Watson producing an RBI single in the seventh and Chase DeLauter following Rocchio's efforts with a deep ball of his own in the ninth.

Like Cantillo, DeLauter's recent play has been a major boost for a team that has been looking for an answer at the plate with Ramirez and Martinez out.

"I think we saw it at the end of the homestand," Vogt began about DeLauter's recent success. "You know, when he hit that fastball out on Sunday against the White Sox, and really got to driving the fastball, that's really the one element that Chase was kind of struggling with a little bit at the big league level was driving the fastball. So, really good to see him back on those fastballs. Those were real fastballs he turned around in this series."

DeLauter is now up to 11 home runs on the season and has brought his slash line up to a strong .278/.345/.448 for an OPS worth .793. Currently, his OPS is a team-leading mark.

As the Guardians look to rest and reset for a couple of days, they will keep their attention on the American League Central race.

Alongside them at the No. 1 spot in the table is the Chicago White Sox, holding a record of 50-45 on the season, while the Minnesota Twins trail by just three games and the Detroit Tigers sit not far behind at 6.5 games back.

Up next, the Guardians will play host to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game set beginning on Friday, July 17, at 7:10 p.m. EST.

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