CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians continue to treat Progressive Field like a fortress against the Los Angeles Angels, and Tuesday night was no exception.
Angel Martinez launched a solo home run, and the Guardians' pitching staff racked up 13 strikeouts in a 3-2 victory that extended Cleveland's remarkable home dominance over the Angels. Since 2015, the Guardians are now an eye-popping 29-4 against Los Angeles at Progressive Field — a winning percentage that would make any team proud.
Martinez, Patrick Bailey, and Bryan Rocchio each drove in runs for Cleveland, which has now won the first two games of this series despite being outhit in both contests. It's the kind of gritty, pitching-first baseball that keeps teams in contention.
Guardians starter Slade Cecconi set the tone early, holding the Angels scoreless over four innings while striking out a season-high seven batters. Hunter Gaddis (1-1) contributed 1⅓ innings of relief, and Cade Smith locked down his second four-out save of the season — his 12th in 14 opportunities overall.
Martinez put Cleveland on the board in the third inning against Angels starter Walbert Ureña (1-4), crushing his sixth homer of the year into the right-field seats. He nearly went deep again in the fifth, but Angels right fielder Jo Adell made a leaping grab at the wall to rob him. Still, the deep fly advanced Daniel Schneeman to third, and he scored on Bailey's groundout to make it 2-0.
The Angels finally broke through in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza tripled and scored on Adell's sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Los Angeles threatened again in the seventh against reliever Eric Sabrowski, who walked two batters but struck out the side to escape the jam.
Cleveland added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on Rocchio's sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 3-1. Vaughn Grissom answered with his second homer of the season in the eighth, pulling the Angels within one, but that's as close as they'd get.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was back in the dugout after missing two games due to an upper respiratory issue. The team also announced the passing of Bob Tayek, the longtime public address announcer at Progressive Field who had been the voice of the ballpark since 1999 before stepping away this season for health reasons.
The series finale is set for Wednesday, with Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (1-3, 4.33 ERA) facing Cleveland lefty Parker Messick (4-1, 2.30), who will be seeing the Angels for the first time in his career.