Guardians’ Parker Messick closing in on franchise record with another gem vs. Royals

Cleveland Guardians starter Parker Messick turned in another impressive performance in an 11-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. The All-Star left-hander worked six innings, surrendering one run on five hits while finishing with five strikeouts and two walks.

By allowing two runs or fewer once again, Messick extended his streak to 10 straight starts, tying Bob Lemon’s mark from 1956. One more such outing would put him alongside Gaylord Perry, whose 11-start streak in 1974 remains the Cleveland franchise record. Messick’s current run is therefore the longest by a Guardians pitcher since Perry’s 1974 run.

The 25-year-old improved to 11-8 on the season having entered the game with a 2.50 ERA, which ranked second among qualified major league rookies. His six-inning performance lowered his season ERA to 2.46. Through 27 games and 27 starts, Messick has logged 161 strikeouts, 43 walks and a 1.02 WHIP across 161 innings, with his 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

The outing was particularly impressive considering Kansas City made Messick work early. The Royals forced him to throw 31 pitches in the first inning, and Salvador Perez brought home Kansas City’s only run with an RBI single. Messick escaped the inning by striking out Nick Loftin and then settled down over the remainder of his outing.

As Messick kept the Royals under control, Cleveland’s offense produced 11 runs. Jose Ramirez homered and collected his 1,000th career single, while driving in four runs. Chase DeLauter went 4-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, recording his third career four-hit game and raising his August batting average to .329 with a .901 OPS.

The Guardians improved to 69-68 and holds the third American League wild-card position. Cleveland gets a breather Monday before opening a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

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