​CLEVELAND, OHIO – JULY 21: Closing pitcher Cade Smith #36 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after the last out during the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field on July 21, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images After a great, 7 home run game, the Cleveland Guardians and the Minnesota Twins faced off for Game 2 of the 4 game series. Parker Messick, coming off of a stellar All-Star Game appearance, had another good start. Messick gave up a home run to Ryan Jeffers in the first inning and allowed Josh Bell to score on a fielding error. However, those were the only blemishes that Messick would face. He went 5.2 innings, allowing 2R/1ER on four hits and six strike outs. He did not walk a batter.
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The Guardians offense didn’t have as explosive of a game as they did yesterday, but they kicked into gear behind strong pitching to put up some runs. In the bottom of the third Austin Hedges drew a lead off walk. Petey Halpin laid down a sac bunt that advanced Hedgey to scoring position. Steven Kwan (who is definitely back, right?) hit a double to center to score Hedgey and tie the game. A pitching change and a Brayan Rocchio single gave Cleveland the lead.
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Colin Holderman came on in the sixth for the final out, walking a batter, but earning the win and improving to 5-2 on the season. In the bottom of the sixth Kahlil Watson hit his sixth double on the season to lead things off. Travis Bazzana reached on a hit by pitch and Gabriel Arias hit a single to center to load them up. Austin Hedges hit a sac fly to score Watson from third and give Cleveland the lead once again. Bazzana and Arias completed a successful double steal. It looked close at third, but Bazz was able to get his hand in ahead of the tag. And what a double steal did it prove to be.
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Petey Halpin, with one out, hit a sac fly to center field. Byron Buxton made a fantastic throw to home where Bazzana was called out at the plate. The Guardians challenged the play and the video revealed, Bazz got a hand in before the tag and was called safe. The insurance run was more than welcome.
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Shawn Armstrong gave up two hits, but got two outs before Vogt turned to Hunter Gaddis. Gaddis was lights out in his 1.1 innings of work. In the bottom of the seventh, Chase DeLauter hit a single to right, but was out in the next at bat when Kyle Manzardo hit into a force out. Travis Bazzana, with two outs, hit a fly ball to left, scoring Manzo.
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Closer Cade Smith, who has only pitched once since the All-Star Game, came on in the ninth and earned his 29th save of the season. Cade went 1-2-3 with a flyout, strikeout, and an amazing catch from Kahlil Watson to book it on the Twins.View