Cleveland built a foundation in the first inning and never let it crumble. The Guardians scored twice in the opening frame and held off a late Angels rally to win 4-2 at Progressive Field, extending their winning streak to two games.
Parker Messick anchored the victory with 6.2 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven while allowing four hits and three walks. The left-hander improved to 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA, working efficiently through 104 pitches before turning the game over to the bullpen.
Angel Martinez opened the scoring with a solo homer to left field in the first inning. Two batters later, David Fry grounded out to the pitcher, bringing Jose Ramirez home for a 2-0 lead. Martinez added another run in the third when he scored on Chase DeLauter's sacrifice fly to center, extending Cleveland's advantage to 3-0.
The Angels cut into the deficit in the fifth when Zach Neto launched a two-run homer to left, scoring Oswald Peraza to make it 3-2. But Cleveland answered in the sixth as Daniel Schneemann singled to center, driving home Rhys Hoskins for the final margin. Reid Detmers took the loss, allowing four runs over 5.2 innings with six strikeouts.
Cleveland improved to 23-21 and maintained first place in their division. Los Angeles fell to 16-27, extending their losing streak to two games. Hoskins sits two runs away from 500 career runs scored, while Detmers is 1.1 innings from reaching 500 career innings pitched.