Angel Martinez hit a leadoff homer, stole two bases and scored twice as the Cleveland Guardians completed a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 4-2 win on Wednesday afternoon.
Martinez, who homered for the second straight day, later came home on Chase DeLauter’s sacrifice fly in the third inning that gave American League Central Division leader Cleveland a 3-0 lead.
Parker Messick (5-1) continued his impressive rookie season with 6 2/3 innings and seven strikeouts. The left-hander gave up two runs on four hits with three walks.
Cade Smith worked the ninth for his 13th save in 15 appearances, striking out all three hitters he faced. Matt Festa and Erik Sabrowski also pitched in the combined four-hitter.
Zach Neto pulled Los Angeles within 3-2 in the fifth, belting a two-run homer onto the porch in left to score Oswald Peraza. Neto and Martinez each have seven home runs.
Daniel Schneemann’s two-out single in the sixth extended Cleveland’s advantage to 4-2 and chased Angels starter Reid Detmers (1-4).
The Guardians are 30-4 against the Angels in Cleveland since 2015, the most lopsided matchup in baseball over that span. This was their first sweep of the season.
Detmers allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The lefty struck out six and walked two, falling to 0-3 with a 6.58 ERA in six career outings in Cleveland.
The Angels have lost a league-high 18 of their 23 games since April 18. They also lead the majors with 21 games of scoring two or fewer runs, including all three in the series.
Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler — batting 2-3-4 in the order for Los Angeles — each went 0-for-4 and totaled seven strikeouts.
David Fry had the Guardians’ other RBI on a groundout in the first. Jose Ramirez, who also had two stolen bases and leads the majors with 18, came home.
Cleveland wrapped up a string of 13 games in 13 days with an 8-5 record.
–Field Level Media
