Josh Naylor had two home runs and six RBIs, Josh Bell added a two-run shot and Logan Allen pitched five scoreless innings as the visiting Cleveland Guardians pummeled the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1 on Tuesday.
Amed Rosario and Myles Straw each added an RBI single for the Guardians, who have won the first two games of the series by a combined 21-1.
Allen (4-2), a rookie who was recalled earlier Tuesday to make his 13th career start, gave up one hit while striking out eight and walking one.
Connor Joe homered for the Pirates, who have lost five in a row and nine of 10.
Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller (9-5), making his first start since he pitched one inning in the All-Star Game a week earlier, gave up eight runs and 10 hits in six innings, with one strikeout and two walks.
The time off seemed to lean more toward rust than rest for Keller.
Cleveland scored five runs in the first inning, collecting five straight hits to start the game.
Steven Kwan doubled to right-center and scored on Rosario’s single to right. Jose Ramirez singled to left before Naylor hit a three-run shot to right-center to make it 4-0.
Andres Gimenez singled to right but was out at second when Bell grounded into a forceout. Bell moved to second on Will Brennan’s groundout. Straw then hit a single and right, driving in Bell to make it 5-0.
In the third, Gimenez singled to right with one out. Bell hit his 10th homer, to right-center, to up the Guardians’ lead to 7-0.
Cleveland picked up another run in the fourth. Kwan doubled to right with one out, and Rosario and Ramirez walked to load the bases. Naylor’s groundout drove in Kwan for an 8-0 lead.
Pittsburgh got its first hit with one out in the fifth when Jared Triolo singled to left, but he was stranded at first.
Joe homered to center, his seventh, in the sixth to cut it to 8-1.
Naylor hit a two-run homer to right in the ninth. That gave him three homers in the past two games and 15 on the season.
–Field Level Media
