Angels' Grayson Rodriguez continues comeback vs. 'gutsy' Guardians

Coming off his finest outing in a comeback season, Los Angeles Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will try to cool off the Cleveland Guardians in the finale of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.

Rodriguez (4-5, 6.41 ERA), sidelined for almost 22 months because of right elbow and shoulder injuries, will make his 15th start for the Angels, who acquired him in a November trade with the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Taylor Ward.

Following a slow start to the 2026 season that saw his ERA reach 8.54 on July 24, Rodriguez has a 3.27 ERA in four August starts. He has struck out 25 batters and allowed 15 hits and eight earned runs over 22 innings.

Rodriguez, who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against Cleveland, comes in off an 18-3 victory at Houston on Thursday in a game that saw him allow five hits and two runs (none earned) over seven innings while striking out six.

"Making progress," Rodriguez told The Orange County Register after defeating the Astros. "It seems like every start there's a different battle to fight. We're starting to piece some good outings together. Some not-so-good outings. You learn from the bad ones, and then you take outings like today and really let it boost your confidence to go into the next one."

Rodriguez will try to help the Angels, losers of three games in a row, avoid being swept by the Guardians.

Cleveland won the opener 4-2 on Monday and followed that with its largest comeback win of the season, 8-6 in 10 innings on Tuesday. The Guardians have won six games in a row as they chase an American League playoff berth.

The Guardians were down 5-0 early as ace Gavin Williams made his shortest start of the season, allowing five runs on six hits in just 1 1/3 innings. But Cleveland chipped away and tied the score 5-5 in the fifth on a Steven Kwan RBI single.

After Vaughn Grissom put the Angels back in front with his second homer of the game, the Guardians rallied to tie it again, 6-6, in the eighth on an RBI double by Jose Ramirez.

Ramirez doubled three times and drove in five runs, including a two-run go-ahead double in the 10th that proved to be the game winner. Kwan finished 5-for-5 with a walk, three runs and an RBI for the second five-hit game of his career.

"This was a gutsy win," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "What a credit to our offense for never giving up, coming back (and also some) great plays on defense."

Left-hander Joey Cantillo (9-7, 3.73 ERA) will start for Cleveland on Wednesday. He is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Angels. Cantillo picked up the win in a 7-2 victory on May 11 in Cleveland when he allowed five hits over six shutout innings while striking out four.

Cantillo has given up only one earned run in each of his past three starts, allowing eight hits over 11 2/3 innings while striking out 15.

--Field Level Media