Messick's scoreless outing caps off Guardians rotation's stellar series

PHILADELPHIA -- Cleveland’s starters were stellar in the three-game series against the Phillies -- and they needed to be.

Parker Messick followed strong outings from Gavin Williams on Friday and Slade Cecconi on Saturday with 5 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Guardians defeat Philadelphia, 3-1, on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Travis Bazzana and Steven Kwan provided the offensive spark for AL Central-leading and streaking Cleveland, which took two of three in the set to make it 11 victories in its past 13 games.

Messick (6-1) struck out six and walked two while allowing five hits, giving Cleveland’s starters a 1.45 combined ERA in the three games. Those efforts were crucial for the Guardians as they spent the weekend battling Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and rookie Andrew Painter.

“That’s a really good team, a really tough lineup,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “[The starters] went out and executed. Tip your cap to their pitching, as well. It was a really tough series. But our starters were outstanding.”

Cade Smith tossed a scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 20 tries.

Bazzana, batting leadoff for the second time in his career after being elevated to the top spot on Saturday, homered into the second deck in the eighth inning and had a pair of singles. Kwan had three singles, including an RBI knock that broke a scoreless tie.

After failing to score against a Phillies starter for 18 1/3 consecutive innings in the series, Cleveland finally got a run on Kwan’s one-out RBI single in the fifth against Painter (1-5).

“Our starters have been doing such a good job, too,” Kwan said. “You almost feel like you owe it to them to give them a lead and not be so tight and feel like they have to be perfect. Hopefully it allowed Parker to settle in a little bit.”

Kwan’s hit was just the kind that Cleveland fans had been used to seeing over the past four seasons from him in the leadoff role. But his struggles had been so pronounced that he was dropped from the top spot on May 16, the first time he did not bat No. 1 since June 18, 2022.

Sometimes, though, you just need a little luck to get back on the right track, like in the third inning when Kwan reached safely on an infield single that went 3 feet.

“A squibber should not be a good thing, but there’s something about starting the day 1-for-1 and being able to breathe a little bit,” Kwan said.

Meanwhile, Kwan’s recent replacement at the top of the order, Bazzana, continued to look comfortable in his new role. The rookie drove Jonathan Bowlan’s 97.1 mph four-seamer a Statcast-projected 412 feet.

“I got just about every bit of that,” Bazzana said. “I’ve hit a couple balls harder or further in my life, but that’s about all I’ve got right now, I’d say. Yeah, that was a good one.”

The three runs were plenty for the Guardians’ stingy pitchers.

Messick featured six effective pitches to stifle Philadelphia’s strong lineup. After tallying six walks over his past two outings, he felt much better about his delivery on Sunday.

“Once I settled in, I was like, ‘That’s where I need to be,’” he said. “Hopefully we can keep it there moving forward.”

The Phillies placed a runner on second base with two outs in the fourth and fifth innings, but Messick got Edmundo Sosa to ground out in the fourth and fanned Bryce Harper with a four-seamer in the fifth, which prompted an emotional roar from the 25-year-old lefty.

“When you have runners in scoring position and you have [Kyle] Schwarber and Harper at the plate, that’s like every kid’s dream growing up,” Messick said. “They’re such studs, All-Stars, such good players. When you have the ability to punch someone out like that, I never do it to show anyone up, I didn’t even look at him. I just yelled at myself coming off the mound.

“It’s every kid’s dream to get out of a situation like that. Just a cool moment for me.”

Along with Williams -- who started the series with an eight-inning scoreless gem -- and Cecconi, the three Guardians starters surrendered three runs in 18 2/3 innings, with 22 strikeouts and three walks.

Messick marched out to the mound eager to keep things going.

“It gives you all the confidence in the world,” he said.

That was clear to see on Sunday.