BOSTON — The Guardians needed one run and five pitchers Thursday night to clinch a postseason berth for the third straight season. Angel Martínez homered in the second inning, and Cleveland’s pitching staff made it stand in a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Martínez turned a 2-2 pitch from Ranger Suárez into his 18th home run with one out in the second. The drive to right field traveled 319 feet at 93.8 mph, modest measurements for a home run with enormous value. Cleveland managed only three other hits, two from José Ramírez and one from David Fry, but that was enough.
Daniel Espino retired all three batters in the first inning and struck out two. Joey Cantillo took over in the second and handled the next five innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out four. Cantillo threw 80 pitches to earn his 11th win and lower his ERA to 3.62.
Suárez was nearly as stingy for Boston, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over five innings. The Red Sox collected only two hits all night and could not turn four walks into a run.
Boston’s best late threat came in the seventh. Hunter Gaddis walked Caleb Durbin to start the inning, but Ceddanne Rafaela grounded into a 6-4-3 double play from Brayan Rocchio to Travis Bazzana to Fry. Jarren Duran followed with a single before Gaddis struck out Trevor Story to end the inning.
Erik Sabrowski worked around a walk in a scoreless eighth and struck out two. Cade Smith needed only 15 pitches to strike out Wilyer Abreu, Durbin and Rafaela in order in the ninth, earning his major league-leading 41st save and starting the celebration.
The victory improved Cleveland to 83-76 and guaranteed October baseball for the third straight year. Chicago’s 9-1 win at Kansas City kept the White Sox one game behind the Guardians in the American League Central with three games remaining. The White Sox own the season-series tiebreaker, so the Guardians must finish with the better record to win the division.
What’s Next
The Guardians open their final series of the regular season Friday against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Gavin Williams is scheduled to face Noah Cameron in the 7:40 p.m. game, which will air on Guardians.TV.
