Chappie's Grave

 Oh, how cruel the baseball season can be. On the same day the Guardians snapped a five-game losing streak, they also lost the second game of a day-night doubleheader, 2-0, to Cincinnati at the Great American Ball Park on July 28. The Guardians won the opener of the day-night doubleheader, 6-5, but could not carry over the momentum. They managed just three hits and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They also wasted a 12-strikeout effort by starter Gavin Williams. Williams is just 1-3 in his last four starts, but he’s struck out at least 10 and walked one or fewer batters in that same span of starts. The game ended with one on and two out; Petey Halpin’s drive to deep right-center field ended up in the glove of Reds center fielder Dave Myers on a play that had Guardians announcer Tom Hamilton lose his mind. Cleveland went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The game was played in a snappy 2:28, and 26,928 watched it. Cleveland dropped to 55-54 and remains 1 1/2 ga...

 The Guardians snapped a five-game losing streak with a much-needed 6-5 win over Cincinnati in the first game of a day-night doubleheader on July 29. The nailbiter wasn’t completed until Angel Martinez made a diving catch in right field for the 27th out, allowing Cade Smith to record his 30th save. The Guardians used a grand slam by Kyle Manzardo and a go-ahead RBI sacrifice bunt by Brayan Rocchio to lead the offense, which had suffered shutouts in its two prior losses. Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi could not protect a four-run lead, and Cincinnati scored a run in the third and four in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. But with a six-game losing streak looking them in the face, Jose Ramirez showed why he is a future Hall of Famer. With one out in the top of the fifth inning, he singled and then stole second and third before riding home with the tying run on a sac fly off the bat of Chase DeLauter to make it 5-5. Rocchio pulled off his squeeze-sac-RBI bunt in the eighth inning. Hunte...

That’s five straight losses for the Cleveland baseball team. The latest loss came on July 27 when the Guardians lost 1-0 to Tampa Bay. Cleveland collected just one hit, a double by Steven Kwan to lead off the contest, but that would be it. The Guardians somehow managed to go 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. In the loss was a great pitching performance by the rookie southpaw Parker Messick. Messick pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave up a single run while striking out six and allowing six hits. He lowered his ERA to 2.59 on the year. Cleveland was shut out for the second consecutive game. Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen struck out nine in seven shutout innings and allowed the one hit to Kwan. The loss dropped Cleveland to 54-53. The Guardians have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. They trail Chicago by two games in the AL Central at 4:09 p.m. EST, but Chicago leads Houston 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Parker Messick told reporters after the game the team knows it’s strug...

 The losing streak now stands at four in a row. Cleveland was shut out and managed just five hits in a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay on July 25. Cleveland dropped to 54-52 on the year. Tanner Bibee’s year from hell continued as he dropped to 4-10 and was tagged with the loss. He allowed just three earned runs on five hits in six innings of work. Tampa Bay (61-43), the best team in the American League, got another strong start from Nick Martinez, who picked up the win and improved to 10-2. He struck out five and scattered four hits over six innings while not allowing a run. Junior Caminero, a former Guardian farm hand, doubled home a run, his 63rd RBI on the season, to lead Tampa Bay’s offense. Yandy Diaz, another former Cleveland player, had two hits, including his 1,000 career hit with Tampa Bay, to add a little more sting to the loss. The White Sox lost again, so Cleveland remains 1 1/2 games out of first place. Houston beat the White Sox, 4-1. Parker Messick, the rookie all-star lefty, ...

 It was a bad day to be a Cleveland sports fan. During the morning hours of July 24, 2026, LeBron James announced he would eschew Cleveland and play his NBA basketball with the Philadelphia 76ers. Then that night the Guardians went out and lost their third straight game, walloped by Tampa Bay, 11-3. The good news was Chicago lost to Houston, 9-5. Cleveland remained 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the race for first in the American League Central. Cleveland fell in the first of a weekend series. Tampa Bay blew the game open with a four-run eighth inning. Angel Martinez returned to the lineup after missing more than a month with a broken foot. He, Chase DeLauter and Jose Ramirez all suffered injuries in the June 13 win over Detroit.  Now all three are back. Austin Hedges hit a two-run home run for Cleveland in the ninth inning. It was the highlight for a Cleveland offense that went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Joey Cantillo started and took the loss. In 3 2/3 in...

Gavin Williams struck out 11 Minnesota hitters over seven innings. But the bullpen leaked, and the Twins scored twice in the top of the 12th inning in a 3-1 win on July 23 at Progressive Field. The Guardians split the four-game series, with the Twins winning the first two and losing the last two. Cleveland fell 1 1/2 games back of AL Central-leading Chicago with the loss. Cleveland (54-50) could not come up with the big hit as the Guardians went 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Patrick Bailey’s solo home run into the second deck in right field in the fifth inning gave Cleveland an early 1-0 lead. Williams left after seven innings protecting the 1-0 lead. He allowed just two hits and didn't walk a batter. But Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith conspired to blow it, and Minnesota tied the game in the eighth inning on Alan Roden’s single to center field. Trevor Larnach drove in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning. Cleveland fell 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the race for the...

Yech. That was nasty. It would best describe the Guardians game on July 22 vs. Minnesota, which resulted in a 10-6 loss. There was some good. Namely, the return to the lineup of all-star third baseman Jose Ramirez. Josie, who’d been missing since mid-June after suffering a broken hamate bone, collected a pair of hits in his return, but he also made one of three Cleveland errors on the night. Kyle Manzardo, who made one of the errors that ultimately led to six unearned runs, collected three hits, including his 11th home run of the season. Steven Kwan continued his hot hitting with a three-hit night. Slade Cecconi took the loss. He gave up seven hits and struck out five while allowing two home runs. Four of the seven runs he allowed were unearned. The Guardians fell a game back in the race for the AL Central race as Chicago downed Texas 4-2. Chicago improved to 54-47 while Cleveland fell to 54-49. The Cleveland loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Guardians, who are 7-3 in thei...