MINNEAPOLIS – After two rough starts by Joey Cantillo, the Guardians decided to switch up their strategy and use multiple openers before Cantillo took the mound Saturday at Target Field. And though Cantillo pitched well, Cleveland was trailing by three runs by the time he entered the game in the third inning, and could not quite battle all the way back.
Cantillo struck out eight batters – one shy of his season high – in four scoreless innings of relief, but the Guardians couldn’t provide enough offensive support in a 4-3 loss.
Coupled with the Blue Jays’ win over Baltimore earlier in the day, the Guardians’ lead for the final AL Wild Card spot shrunk to one game. They also slipped to one game behind the White Sox in the AL Central race, with Chicago playing at St. Louis later Saturday.
If the Guardians are going to hold on and reach the playoffs for the third straight year, they’re going to need Cantillo to cover some big innings down the stretch, and his appearance on Saturday was a huge step in the right direction.
“For Joey, a lot of it comes down to this mentality of just take the ball, chuck it over the white and let them hit it,” manager Stephen Vogt said pregame. “He's doing that. We’ve seen it time and time again. When he’s doing that, he's effective. He's getting outs.”
Cantillo had struggled in his last two starts against Toronto and Baltimore, allowing 13 runs (eight earned) in just 7 2/3 innings.
“This has been a phenomenal first full season starting [for] Joey,” Vogt said. “We're not going to let two or three tough ones dictate how his year has gone because he's given us a chance to win.”
As has often been the case, Cantillo’s off-speed pitches were especially effective. Six of his eight strikeouts came on batters whiffing on his curve.
The Guardians got it going early against Twins lefty Connor Prielipp. Jo Adell led off the second with a base hit and moved up a base when Angel Martínez capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a bullet to center for a single. Adell scored one out later on a single by Travis Bazzana, and the Guardians led 1-0.
But things went off the rails in the bottom of the third when the Guardians brought in Franco Aleman to relieve opener Daniel Espino. After getting the first out, Aleman surrendered a home run to Emmanuel Rodriguez, who was making his Major League debut for the Twins.
Aleman then gave up three straight singles to bring home a run before striking out Josh Bell. But Aleman could not get the final out of the inning. Royce Lewis singled home a run before Aleman hit Kaelen Culpepper and Victor Caratini with pitches to make it 4-1.
Cantillo finally got the Guardians off the hook when he retired Austin Martin on a fly ball to center to leave the bases full.
The Guardians got two runs back in the fifth on an RBI grounder by Brayan Rocchio and a two-out single by Steven Kwan that drove in Austin Hedges to make it 4-3.