CLEVELAND (AP) — Angel Martinez belted a grand slam and had a career-high four hits, and rookie Chase DeLauter delivered a two-run double to lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 10-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
Martinez launched a 374-foot shot to right off Steven Cruz in the eighth inning, when the Guardians scored five times to blow open what was a 5-2 game. Rhys Hoskins had a career-best three doubles as Cleveland tied its season high with 16 hits.
Guardians starter Joey Cantillo (1-0) struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run and one unearned run on three hits. Matt Festa worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first save since July 7, 2022, with Seattle.
DeLauter, who leads all rookies with five homers and 11 RBIs, drove in José Ramírez and David Fry in the first with a drive off the wall against Cole Ragans (0-3). Hoskins followed with a double that made the Guardians’ lead 3-0.
Ragans had been struck on his left thumb by a comebacker from Ramírez, forcing him to exit two batters later after DeLauter’s double. He was charged with three runs in 2/3 of an inning, later being diagnosed with a contusion.
The Royals pulled within 4-1 in the fourth on an RBI double by Bobby Witt Jr., and then added a run in the fifth when Lane Thomas scored on an error by Steven Kwan. Cleveland committed two errors after only making one in its first 12 games.
Ramírez and Juan Brito also had RBI doubles for the Guardians, who are 3-0-1 in series this season.
Kansas City outfielder Tyler Tolbert made his pitching debut with 2/3 scoreless innings.
Royals: RHP Seth Lugo (1-0, 1.59 ERA) starts Thursday at home against the White Sox.
Guardians: RHP Slade Cecconi (0-1, 5.23 ERA) takes the ball Friday in Atlanta.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Music speaks to us beyond words; its vibrations reach our core and allow us to connect with … Read moreDiscover the Joy of Piano - Free Piano Lesson for those 50+ years old! (LIMITED SPOTS LEFT)
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
Providing Feedback said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.