Six RBIs before the fifth inning
Jo Adell needed one swing. His first at-bat overnight in Cleveland produced a 455-foot three-run homer off Carson Whisenhunt, the ball landing five rows short of the scoreboard above the left field bleachers. The Guardians led 3-0 and the shape of the night was already set.
Adell kept going. A two-run single in the second scored Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, both of whom he had driven in an inning earlier. Another single in the fourth brought home Brayan Rocchio and pushed Cleveland to 6-1. Six RBIs, a career high, all of them banked before the fifth inning started.
The 27-year-old finished with three hits, as did Ramirez. Angel Martinez added an RBI of his own. Rookie Angel Genao singled and doubled to lift his average to .324 through 11 major league games. Cleveland won 8-1.
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Griffin controls it from the mound
Foster Griffin gave the Guardians six innings and very little to worry about. The left-hander allowed five hits, struck out six and walked two, with Bryce Eldridge’s leadoff homer in the second the only damage against him. He moved to 14-4 and collected his second consecutive win. Griffin and Matt Festa combined to retire 10 straight hitters between the fourth and the seventh.
Cleveland picked up both Griffin and Adell on Aug. 3, Adell from the Angels and Griffin from the Nationals. Two and a half weeks later the pair carried a game between them.
Whisenhunt absorbed the damage. Nine hits and seven runs, six earned, across four innings, both career worsts. He falls to 1-4 in five starts since his latest recall from Triple-A Sacramento. Rafael Devers went 0-for-4 and is hitting .188 since the start of the month.
Still alive in the wild-card race
The win left Cleveland half a game behind Texas and Baltimore for the final American League wild-card spot. It also counted as only their fifth win in 15 games this month, which explains why a night like this one registers beyond the box score. San Francisco sit level with them at 10-19 since the All-Star break.
One oddity closed the evening out. Home plate umpire Jordan Baker left before the top of the fifth after taking a foul ball off the mask from Andrew Knizner, with Rob Drake moving in from third base to replace him.
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