Game result and context
Cleveland Guardians beat Athletics 12-6 as first-place Cleveland holds magic number of 7
The Cleveland Guardians scored five runs in the first inning and five more in the third on the way to a 12-6 win over the Athletics at Progressive Field. Angel Martínez had 4 hits, 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Cleveland improved to 80-75 and holds first place in its division with a magic number of 7, while the Athletics fell to 61-94.
Final result
The Cleveland Guardians beat the Athletics 12-6 on September 19, 2026, at Progressive Field before a crowd of 31,615. The game went 9 innings.
Cleveland moved to 80-75. The Athletics dropped to 61-94.
How the game changed
The Athletics struck first with 2 runs in the top of the first, but Cleveland answered right away. Chase DeLauter hit a three-run homer in the bottom half, and Angel Martínez followed later in the inning with a two-run shot as the Guardians put up 5 runs.
The third inning settled it. The Athletics scored 1 run in the top half, and Cleveland came back with 5 more in the bottom of the inning.
Martínez added a solo homer in the fourth. The Athletics got 2 runs in the fifth on a two-run homer from Donovan Walton, but Cleveland scored once more in the sixth and kept the Athletics off the board over the last four innings.
Key performances
Martínez led Cleveland with 4 hits in 5 at-bats, scoring 3 runs and driving in 4 with his 2 home runs. DeLauter had 2 hits in 5 at-bats with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. David Fry drove in 2 runs on 1 hit, and Steven Kwan had 2 hits and 1 RBI.
For the Athletics, Walton reached on all 3 of his at-bats with 3 hits, 1 home run, 1 run scored and 4 RBI. Zack Gelof had 2 hits in 5 at-bats with 1 run and 1 RBI.
Cleveland hit 3 home runs to 1 for the Athletics.
Season and playoff context
Cleveland sits first in its division at 80-75 with a magic number of 7, so every win matters as the regular season winds down.
The Athletics are fourth in the division, 17.0 games back, and 11th in the wild-card standings, 18.0 games back. They have been eliminated from both the division and the wild-card races.
Series context
This was Game 2 of a 3-game regular-season series at Progressive Field.