CJ Kayfus and Brayan Rocchio homered, Gavin Williams pitched 5⅓ scoreless innings and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Arizona Diamondbacks Aug. 18.
CJ Kayfus and Brayan Rocchio homered, Gavin Williams pitched 5⅓ scoreless innings, and the Cleveland Guardians broke a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Aug. 18.
Kayfus had two hits, including his second homer in his 15th game since being promoted from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 2. Both homers have come on the road.
Geraldo Perdomo broke up the Guardians' shutout on a run-scoring triple with two outs in the ninth after Blaze Alexander walked, but Cade Smith struck out Ketel Marte to end the game for his seventh save in 10 chances.
Williams (8-4) gave up four hits in his first career appearance against Arizona. He struck out five, walked one and hit a batter. He entered with a major league-leading 67 walks.
The Diamondbacks, who had six hits, have lost four in a row and fell seven games behind the New York Mets for the third NL wild-card spot. They left 10 on base and were 1 of 8 with runners in scoring position.
Cleveland closed to within three games of the final AL wild-card spot.
Zac Gallen (9-13) gave up three runs on five hits, including both home runs, with three strikeouts and no walks. He has given up a career-high 26 homers, second most in the majors. His previous high was 22 in 2023, when he was 17-9 and finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting.
Kayfus' homer, measured at 406 feet, gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the second.
Kayfus singled to open the fifth and Rocchio homered with one-out for a 3-0 lead. Rocchio has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games, hitting .315 with two of his three homers and nine RBIs.
Williams was removed after Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled with one out in the sixth to put runners on first and third. Erik Sabrowski entered to strike out pinch-hitter Tyler Locklear and get pinch-hitter Vargas to ground out to end the inning.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians close to within 3 games of final AL wild-card spot
Category: Baseball
