Guardians lose 8-4 to Yankees, swept for the first time since August of last year

CLEVELAND — The Guardians were unable to complete a sweep of the Yankees, dropping the series finale in New York last week. The Bronx Bombers showed them how it's done Wednesday afternoon at Progressive Field, beating the mistake-prone Guardians 8-4 behind a quality start from right-hander Carlos Rodon. Cleveland, which entered the day with a half-game lead on the White Sox atop the Central Division standings, was swept for the first time since Aug. 22-24 of last year at Texas. The Guardians lost their fourth straight — outscored 28-11 over the span — and for the eighth time in the last 11 games. "I think you just kind of flush a lot of it. Some of the bad things that happened, you just flush and move on," said left-hander Parker Messick, who allowed a career-high five runs over 5 2/3 innings. "It's a long season and we're right in the middle of it. We've shown the kind of team that we can be, and we're playing like the team we don't want to be right now. Sometimes that's just how it is." Cleveland dropped the series opener 7-5 in 10 innings, losing the middle game 3-2, before getting routed in the finale. Still, manager Stephen Vogt found a silver lining. "I thought it was a well-played series. We lost two tough ones, and then today, obviously, they kind of expanded to make it feel like it wasn't a close game," he said. "Overall, we played well. We were right in there. "It's been a tough stretch. It's been a tough nine-day stretch. We've had a lot of close losses that could have gone either way, but we're going to learn from it. This is a really good experience for us." "They're a great team," Messick said of the Yankees. "We played them really close the first two days. Today, obviously, got away from us. They're a great team and when we do everything we want to do right, we're right there with them. We hang in any game with them." Rodon allowed a home run to Angel Martinez on his second pitch, but the notorious Cleveland killer only gave up three runs and four hits while striking out seven over six innings and retiring the last eight he faced. He improved to 11-5 with a 2.62 ERA in 25 starts against Cleveland. "I thought we battled against him, especially after the last game, where he kind of shut us down the whole time," Vogt said of Rodon's start against the Guardians in New York on June 4 in which he allowed a run on two hits and struck out seven over six innings. "To get some things going, to score some runs … we were right in that game for a long time." The game was tied at 3 before New York scored three times in the sixth, twice off Messick. He was coming off a loss at Texas, when his velocity was down, his stuff was off and he allowed three runs on five hits (two homers) in 5 2/3 innings. "I thought the execution was a lot better," Messick said. "Unfortunately, I had some things fall the wrong way at the wrong time (in the second). It's just part of the game sometimes. "I'm still a young guy. I'm still learning the right routine, how to navigate this long season. I feel like I've shown the ability when I do have a start where it's like, 'OK, stuff is a little down,' I've found a way to get back up to where it's better the next start, and I feel like it was at its best today." Martinez hit his team-leading 11th homer, but hurt the Guardians defensively a couple times. He slipped in right field before making a throw on a two-run triple from Jazz Chisolm Jr. in the second and misplayed a drive off the wall into a triple for Trent Grisham in the sixth. Chisolm and Grisham each scored. It was a bad day in the field all around for Cleveland, which committed two errors — each coming in the second. Messick threw wildly to first from the ground after fielding a bunt to leave runners on second and third with no outs prior to Chisholm Jr.'s triple and second baseman Travis Bazzana booted a grounder that allowed Chisholm Jr. to score. "It was kind of a funky (inning)," Vogt said. "You slip in right field and a routine play that doesn't get converted, that's not who we are. It's very uncharacteristic. Those things happen. It's just frustrating when they do." Martinez and Hedges each had two hits, combining for four of Cleveland's six hits. Hedges had a pair of RBI doubles, plating runs in the fourth and ninth. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.