Thursday was a lighter day on the Major League schedule, though the Yankees still had time to squeeze in a tough loss. The Bombers mustered just three hits at the plate and spoiled a solid Carlos Rodón start in their 2-0 loss at the hands of the Blue Jays. The loss locked in a split of their four-game series, but the task becomes even taller this weekend, as they welcome the Rays into Yankee Stadium for a huge series.
Elsewhere, it was a short day on the American League schedule, with just some movement
in the Central taking place in the afternoon. Here’s a look at how things shook out.
Cleveland Guardians (30-22) 3, Detroit Tigers (20-31) 1
In some Thursday afternoon action in the American League Central, the Guardians sat in the driver’s seat wire to wire against the Tigers. It was a rather quiet affair on the offensive side, one that grew Cleveland’s lead in the division, as well as Detroit’s depth in the basement.
This one pitted Casey Mize against Joey Cantillo, both of whom have enjoyed terrific starts to the 2026 season on the mound. In line with what we’ve seen thus far, both hurlers continued that trend on Thursday. For the Guardians, Cantillo made his 11th start of the season a good one. The 26-year-old lefty tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out six.
For Detroit, Mize had the good stuff going for the most part as well. The former first overall draft pick is enjoying easily the best season of his career to this point in year six, and Thursday’s performance did little to tarnish that thought. The right-hander worked two spotless frames to begin the outing, before the Guardians kicked off scoring in the third inning. With two quick outs already on the board, Brayan Rocchio was the rally starter, pitching in with a double, quickly being scored by another two-bagger from Daniel Schneemann. Before the inning was over, José Ramírez upped the Cleveland lead to 2-0 with a single into left field.
Aside from the two-out rally the Guards staged against him, Mize’s afternoon was another good one, as he ended up working 6.2 quality innings against his division’s first place club, with the two runs in the third inning being the only real mark on his record for the day.
Cantillo exited the game for Cleveland in the sixth, after recording a pair of outs, though the Tigers’ bats wouldn’t have much more luck against their bullpen. In the top half of the eighth, the Guardians tacked on some insurance against Burch Smith out of the Detroit ‘pen, when former Platinum Glover Patrick Bailey swatted his second homer of the season, a solo shot.
The Tigers finally woke up a bit in the eighth inning. Squaring off against Tim Herrin, Dillon Dingler led off the inning with a solo shot of his own, his ninth long ball of the 2026 season.
Despite a little bit of life out of the Tigers late in the game, it was too little, too late. Hunter Gaddis came in for the ninth out of the Guardians’ bullpen, the sixth pitcher they used in the game, and quickly locked things down for the save. The win marked the 30th for the Guardians in 2026, while the Tigers fall to 11 games below .500, as they find themselves in last place in the AL Central.
After a short schedule on Thursday, the Blue Jays will welcome the Pirates while the Rays head to Yankee Stadium for some important weekend series.
