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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Parker Messick bounced back after allowing an early home run and turned in another steady outing, while the Guardians manufactured the go-ahead runs with aggressive baserunning and timely situational hitting Tuesday in a 5-2 win over the Twins at Progressive Field.
Making his first start since appearing in the All-Star Game, the rookie left-hander worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out six. Cleveland’s bullpen took over from there, with Colin Holderman, Shawn Armstrong, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combining to hold Minnesota to two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings and preserve the win.
“Again, Parker just does what he does,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Outside of that home run in the first, he really didn’t get hit too hard. We gave them the other run, but he just continues to do his job and go deep into games. I can’t say enough about the job Parker’s doing. He still feels like he doesn’t have his best stuff right now, and he’s still navigating games. It’s really impressive what he’s doing.”
Smith pitched a scoreless ninth for his MLB-best 29th save in 32 chances.
Brayan Rocchio, Chase DeLauter and Gabriel Arias collected two hits apiece, while Steven Kwan, Travis Bazzana and Rocchio each drove in a run as Cleveland carried over the offensive momentum from Monday’s 13-run outburst.
The Guardians improved to 29-7 when scoring at least five runs this season. After posting a 10-15 record in June, Cleveland has now won 10 of its first 16 games in July, the fourth-best mark in the American League this month. They have also won 43 of their last 66 games against Minnesota dating to the start of the 2022 season, their second-best record against any American League opponent during that span.
After losing four of the first five meetings between the clubs this year, Cleveland has now taken three straight from the Twins.
The game turned in the sixth inning after the Guardians loaded the bases against Minnesota reliever Mike Paredes. Pinch-hitter Kahlil Watson sparked the rally with a leadoff double, Bazzana was hit by a pitch and Arias singled to center to load the bases.
Austin Hedges followed with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Watson and put Cleveland ahead 3-2 before Twins manager Derek Shelton turned to left-hander Taylor Rogers.
Petey Halpin then lifted a shallow fly ball to center. Byron Buxton’s throw home appeared to beat Bazzana, and home plate umpire Nestor Ceja initially ruled him out. Vogt immediately challenged, however, and replay showed Bazzana’s left hand slipping onto the front corner of the plate just before Ryan Jeffers applied the tag. The overturned call stretched Cleveland’s lead to 4-2.
“I tagged expecting to go and it looked good,” Bazzana said. “Then Buxton just kept getting closer and I’m like, ‘This is going to be tight.’ Rougie (third base coach Rouglas Odor) kind of creeps into my ear and says, ‘You’ve got to take a chance.’ I just tried to sell out, took a wide enough lane that my left arm wasn’t easy to tag and found a way.”
Vogt credited both Bazzana’s instincts and Cleveland’s replay room.
“It was a good double steal by him to get in that position and then get home,” Vogt said. “It was a good throw by Buxton, and to sneak his hand in there, that was a huge run. If we get thrown out there, it’s still a one-run lead. That second run is huge for the bullpen late in the game.”
The Guardians finished with two sacrifice flies in the inning, marking the first time Cleveland has recorded multiple sacrifice flies in the same inning since May 28, 2024, at Colorado.
Bazzana added another insurance run in the seventh when his check-swing blooper dropped into shallow left field, allowing DeLauter to score from second.
“Maybe there’s some cricket stuff that crept in there,” Bazzana joked. “I don’t know where it came from. Somehow it’s working. I probably don’t want to do that long term, but I’ll take it while it’s here.”
The rookie second baseman is batting .389 (7-for-18) with two home runs, five RBI and a 1.333 OPS over his first five games of the second half, driving in a run in four of those contests.
Cleveland erased an early deficit with two runs in the third.
Hedges worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Halpin’s sacrifice bunt before Kwan lined an RBI double off the wall in right-center to tie the game. Kwan entered Tuesday batting .405 during July despite being held hitless during Cleveland’s 19-hit outburst on Monday.
“It was nice to see one land out there,” Kwan said. “I think in April maybe that gets caught, but that’s why you play 162. It shows all the hard work that’s gone into it.”
Rocchio followed with a two-out RBI single to right, giving Cleveland a 2-1 lead. It was his 47th RBI of the season, already surpassing last year’s career high of 44 despite playing 16 fewer games. Rocchio also collected his 23rd multi-hit game of the season and has continued to torment Minnesota, batting .321 (18-for-56) with four doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI over his last 15 games against the Twins.
Kwan also continued to set the tone atop the lineup, following Monday’s nine-pitch opening at-bat with a 10-pitch battle to open Tuesday’s contest.
“That’s kind of the approach we’re going for right now — wear the pitcher down,” Kwan said. “It’s nine versus one. Even if I can’t get the job done, I know the guys are analyzing and they like to see all the pitches.”
Vogt said Kwan’s recent resurgence has lifted the entire offense.
“The beauty with Kwannie is he hasn’t changed,” Vogt said. “The first part of the year wasn’t going his way, and you never would’ve known. His demeanor is the same. When he goes, we go.”
Jeffers gave Minnesota an early 1-0 advantage when he launched a two-out solo homer in the first inning, only the second home run Messick has allowed in his last four starts.
“It’s just a hung curveball,” Messick said. “I never meant to throw that pitch there. He’s a good hitter, and he’s going to hit those mistakes. You’ve just got to move on and keep pitching.”
The Twins pulled even in the fourth after Josh Bell doubled with two outs, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a defensive miscue. Royce Lewis hit a broken-bat comebacker that slipped under Messick’s glove. Bazzana fielded the ball behind the mound, but his hurried throw to first skipped away, as Bell scored an unearned run and Lewis advanced to second. Messick limited the damage by retiring Victor Caratini on a groundout to end the inning.
Messick settled in from there, retiring six of the next seven hitters before running into trouble in the sixth. He allowed a leadoff single to Buxton and retired the next two batters before handing the ball to Holderman, who walked Lewis but got Caratini to line out to center to end the inning.
“I thought all the stuff was where it needed to be,” Messick said. “It was a step in the right direction for my delivery. Some of the best shapes I’ve thrown all year. Moving forward, when I tighten up a few things, it’s right where I want to be.”
The rookie left-hander has now worked at least five innings in each of his first 20 major league starts, becoming the first Cleveland left-hander to accomplish that feat since Cliff Lee opened all 31 of his starts with at least five innings in 2008. He finished one out shy of his eighth quality start.
The bullpen made sure his effort stood up.
“Can’t say enough about the job they do day in and day out,” Vogt said. “These guys pitch a lot. They’re ready every day. They want to pitch every day. They just come in and stop games.”
DeLauter’s pair of singles pushed another impressive streak forward. The rookie has now hit safely in 23 of his last 25 games while extending his on-base streak to 13 straight contests. Since July 4, DeLauter is batting .385 (20-for-52) with four doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.131 OPS.
Since returning from the injured list on June 28, his 29 hits lead all major league hitters.
Next:
The series continues Wednesday with a 6:40 p.m. first pitch from Progressive Field. The Guardians will send right-hander Slade Cecconi (4-6, 4.55) to the mound while the Twins counter with righty Bailey Ober (7-3, 4.32). The game will air on Guardians TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM, WARF 1350 AM (Spanish) and the Guardians Radio Network.
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