David Fry hit a two-run homer and scored two runs, Carlos Santana had an RBI double and six Cleveland pitchers combined for a three-hitter as the Guardians notched a 5-0 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.
Fry went deep in the first inning against Kyle Freeland (2-11), scoring Jose Ramirez with his fifth homer of the season. The designated hitter then walked in the fourth and came home on Brayan Rocchio’s sacrifice fly to left off Jaden Hill to make it 3-0.
Kyle Manzardo tacked on an RBI single in the eighth, extending his career-long hitting streak to nine games, and Santana followed with a run-scoring double against Victor Vodnik to close out the scoring.
The Guardians won two of three games in the series leading into an off day that also is the trade deadline. All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan and Santana are among their players who have drawn interest.
Cleveland is 13-6 since July 7, but lost closer Emmanuel Clase until at least Aug. 31 while MLB investigates a possible connection to gambling.
Ramirez and Santana were the only players on either team with multiple hits, both singling and doubling.
Jakob Junis (3-1) was awarded the win with two innings of relief and a pair of strikeouts.
Kolby Allard made his second spot start, working 3 1/3 innings and allowing one baserunner on a Tyler Freeman single. The left-hander struck out five while filling a rotation gap created by a weekend doubleheader at the Kansas City Royals.
Freeland pitched three innings, giving up two runs on three hits without a walk or strikeout while facing Cleveland for the first time since his rookie year of 2017. Reliever Juan Mejia tossed three perfect frames with four strikeouts.
The Rockies had an opportunity to win their third series since the All-Star break after taking only two series before it. Colorado is 6-6 over its last 12 and a league-worst 28-80 on the season, including 21-47 under interim manager Warren Schaeffer.
–Field Level Media
