Story by
Guardians rookie hits the wall – and puts Cleveland in Game 5 hole vs Rays
- Story by
- Guardians rookie hits the wall – and puts Cleveland in Game 5 hole vs Rays
Editor's note: Follow along for live updates from the Guardians-Rays clash in Game 6 of the ALCS.
Parker Messick crossed the 200-inning mark for 2026 with a crucial strikeout of Junior Caminero, stranding a pair of runners to keep the Cleveland Guardians in striking distance in ALCS Game 5 .
Advertisement
And it might have been, perhaps probably should be, the final pitch he throws this season.
Messick, the Guardians' outstanding rookie left-hander, needed 57 pitches to get through two innings, allowing seven baserunners but stranding five of them to keep Cleveland in the fight. He left with the Guardians facing a two-run deficit, and lefty reliever Tim Herrin gave up another run in the third.
And the Rays managed to make those early strikes stand up. They held on for a 3-1 victory, taking a 3-2 ALCS lead back to St. Petersburg, with Game 6 on Monday.
In Game 5, a shaky Messick was enough of an opening for the Rays to exploit, a microcosm of his postseason.
Advertisement
In four playoff starts, he has walked 10 batters, hit another and given up 17 hits in 13 ⅔ innings pitched, a 2.05 WHIP. His regular season WHIP over 186 ⅔ innings?
A sterling 1.06, to go with a 2.56 ERA in 32 starts. A fantastic, ace-like season.
Yet Messick pitched just 138 ⅓ innings between Class AAA Columbus and Cleveland a season ago. Jacking that up to 200 innings is a massive leap.
It showed in Game 5.
In two innings, Messick gave up hard-hit balls to a pair of leadoff batters: Yandy Díaz's 109.2-mph double to begin the game - Díaz scored Tampa Bay's first run - and Ben Williamson's 103.8 mph single to start the second. Díaz notched his second hit in as many innings and Jonathan Aranda's RBI single cashed in Williamson.
Advertisement
"I think everybody who is still playing baseball is taxed, and their workload is heavy," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told reporters in his postgame press conference in Cleveland. "I think Parker - we won't know. We won't know. He feels good. His stuff is still there. This is more innings than he's ever thrown in his life by almost 70 now.
"Of course, I think that might be playing a part in it.
And so when Messick was replaced by Herrin to start the third, it was possibly the last time Guardians fans will see him this season. The Rays, after all, need two wins to advance to the World Series and have the lead in Game 5.
Given his shaky outing - five hits and two walks, just six outs recorded - perhaps that's enough for Messick in 2026, anyway.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Guardians rookie hits the wall – and puts Cleveland in Game 5 hole vs Rays
