Guards 'right where we need to be' after road trip despite tough loss

ARLINGTON -- Going into Sunday’s game, the Guardians didn’t have much margin for error facing Rangers ace Jacob deGrom. After the first inning, the margin had shrunk even more as deGrom retired the side on eight pitches and the Rangers jumped out to a two-run lead on Guardians starter Joey Cantillo.

That inning foreshadowed what happened the rest of the way as the Guardians fell, 10-0, in the series finale at Globe Life Field. It marked the sixth time Cleveland has been shut out this season.

“[deGrom] was on his ‘A’ game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He got a lead and pitched like he had a lead.”

With deGrom on top of his game, the Guardians needed a similar showing from Cantillo. However, it was another shaky day for the lefty.

Cantillo gave up a two-run, two-out blast to Justin Foscue in the first inning. The Rangers then tagged him for four more runs in the third, including a home run by Josh Jung and a two-run double by Ezequiel Duran. In the fourth, Cantillo gave up another long ball to Wyatt Langford.

The three home runs and nine hits were the most he’s allowed in his career, and the seven earned runs matched his career high (he gave up seven to the Yankees on Aug. 21, 2024, in New York).

“The first few innings I thought were the best strike quality and the best strike throwing we’ve seen from him in a while,” Vogt said of Cantillo. “He kind of got hurt on a couple of tough pitches that he left out over the plate. They really made him work there in the third. I thought he battled. We were really thrilled with the way he threw the ball, just too many pitches over the heart of the plate.”

If there is a silver lining for Cantillo, it was that he managed to get through five innings after going four innings and two innings in his previous two starts.

“I’ll take today’s start over the last three,” Cantillo said. “From a process standpoint, we were throwing more pitches in the zone and attacking guys a little better. So, from the process standpoint, which is all that I have control over, that was better.”

Vogt also gave Cantillo a vote of confidence going forward, saying there have been enough positives to keep giving him the ball.

“I know he’s going to dive in with the pitching group and we’re going to try and find some answers,” Vogt said. “We see it in him. He had a couple of really, really good innings, so you see that it’s in there. We just have to help Joey find that consistency. When he’s consistent, we’ve seen what he can do. It gives us a chance to win more often than not.”

An inconsistent day wasn’t going to be easily overcome on Sunday, when deGrom looked like his Cy Young self.

deGrom got off to a fast start, inducing a groundout by Travis Bazzana on the first pitch of the game and then striking out José Ramírez on three pitches. The Guardians didn’t have a baserunner until Steven Kwan led off the third with a single to right.

But deGrom worked out of that jam and another one in the fifth. Angel Martínez and Kwan reached on singles to start the fifth, and Bazzana drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but deGrom ended the threat by striking out Ramírez. deGrom finished his day by striking out the side in the sixth.

deGrom earned the win in his first appearance against the Guardians, the only team he had yet to face over his 13-year career until Sunday.

“It just looked like he was peppering down and away with all of his pitches,” Vogt said. “When he’s crisscrossing the slider and changeup down and away from our lefties like that, mixing in just enough fastballs to keep us honest, I mean that’s one of the best pitchers.”

Overall, Vogt was pleased with what he saw from the team during a 3-3 road trip to New York and Texas. That mindset resonated in the clubhouse, too.

“It was a great road trip,” said catcher Austin Hedges, who pitched the eighth to help save the bullpen on Sunday. “We split against two teams – won the series in New York, played a couple of really good games against the Rangers and one not-so-good one. A split on the road, still in first place? Right where we need to be.”