​MIAMI (AP) — Parker Messick delivered a strong six innings, allowing just one hit and one run, while Chase DeLauter belted a home run as the Cleveland Guardians edged the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night. Messick improved to 8-5, though he walked four and struck out only one; his bid for a no-hitter lasted into the sixth inning before Heriberto Hernández lined a solo shot to left-center to break it up. Cade Smith nailed down his MLB-leading 28th save of the season by working a perfect ninth.
DeLauter gave Cleveland an early edge in the fourth inning with his 10th homer of the season, a 430-foot blast to right-center that extended the Guardians’ lead to 2-0. In the fifth, Steven Bazzana added an insurance run for Cleveland with a sacrifice fly that scored Austin Hedges, making the score 3-0. The Marlins finally got on the board in the seventh when Leo Jiménez hit a solo homer to pull Miami within one run at 3-2.
Sandy Alcántara (10-5) took the loss, ending his streak of quality starts with seven innings of work and three runs allowed. He fanned eight while yielding five hits in what was his 14th quality start of the season. Hernández, who also contributed in the seventh by aiding the ledger with his solo shot earlier, now has 13 homers on the year, tied for the team lead with Liam Hicks.
Looking ahead, the Guardians will send right-hander Tanner Bibee (2-9, 4.06 ERA) against Miami right-hander Eury Pérez (5-6, 3.84 ERA) in the second game of the series on Saturday. The teams will look to build on what was a tightly contested matchup, with Cleveland leveraging a strong six-inning performance from Messick and timely run production from DeLauter and Bazzana to edge out the Marlins.