Guardians, focused on the task at hand, use 14 hits to hammer Rockies, 9-1

GuardiansGuardians' Petey Halpin points to the Cleveland bullpen while rounding the bases on his solo home run in the third inning Friday night against the Rockies at Coors Field.AP Photo/Geneva HeffernanDENVER — In baseball it is always dangerous to look too far ahead. To assume that this game and this game and this game will be automatic wins.The Guardians are at that point of the schedule where it’s hard not to take a peek at what awaits them and do some imaginary math. It would only be human because a trip to the postseason could depend on the outcome of those games.Friday night, however, that was not the case. The Guardians’ focus was where it needed to be as they thumped the struggling Rockies, 9-1, at Coors Field.Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell returned to the lineup and combined for three hits and an RBI after missing time with injuries. Steven Kwan reached base four more times, Travis Bazzana had four hits, while Patrick Bailey and Petey Halpin homered as the Guardians finished with 14 hits.The win pulled the Guardians to within 4 1/2 games of first-place Chicago in the AL Central.Chase DeLauter, Jo Adell back in lineup as Guardians open critical part of scheduleGuardians, Colorado Rockies starting lineups for Aug. 21, 2026: Game No. 129Stephen Vogt’s custom Players’ Weekend shoes will spotlight 2 Cleveland charitiesOn the pitching side, Joey Cantillo cost himself a win by throwing too many pitches in the first inning, but he allowed only one run in 4 1/3 innings in his first start in Denver’s altitude. Relievers Tim Herrin, Colin Holderman and Craig Yoho kept things under control the rest of the way.The Guardians have won three of their last four games. It can’t reverse the damage their 12-20 record since the All-Star break has done, but the wins have come against the teams they need to beat to get back in the race. They finished a six-game homestand by going 2-1 against the Giants and are 1-0 against Rockies, the fourth and fifth place teams in the NL West.The four-hit game was Bazzana’s second of the season. Bailey’s homer gave him seven for the season.Bazzana, who entered the game in a 5 for 34 (.147) slump, gave the Guardians a 3-1 lead with a soft single to left in the fourth. Nathaniel Lowe started the rally with a one-out single. Rookie Angel Genao sent him to third with a double into the right field corner.Bazzana worked Rockies starter Tanner Gordon (0-4, 5.75) through five pitches before dumping a single into left field to break the 1-1 tie. The single gave Bazzana 38 RBI.The Guardians continued to peck away at the Rockies.They stretched the lead to 4-1 on Jo Adell’s one-out single to left. Kwan started the inning with a walk. It was the third time in as many plate appearances Kwan reached base in the game.In Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Giants, Kwan reached base four times in five plate appearances. Overall, he has reached base in 44 of his last 48 games.Chase DeLauter’s twilight single pushed Kwan to second. DeLauter sent a routine fly ball to center field, but Cole Carrigg lost it in the twilight and it fell in front of him for a hit.Kwan moved to third when Jose Ramirez hit into a force play at second. Adell’s single gave him 12 RBI since the Guardians acquired him from the Angels on Aug. 3. For the season, he has 74 RBI.The Guardians made it 5-1 in the fifth and Kwan was in the middle of things again.Bazzana started the inning with a single. He took second on a balk by Gordon. After Bailey flied out to right, Mark Manfredi relieved and Bazzana promptly stole third base. He is 18 for 23 in stolen base attempts this year.Kwan, following a walk by Petey Halpin, delivered Bazzana on a grounder behind the bag at second.Willi Castro’s two-out single off starter Joey Cantillo in the first gave the Rockies a 1-0 lead. The plate seemed to be moving on Cantillo in the first as he threw 31 pitches in the inning.He walked Jake McCarthy to start the game, retired the next two batters despite going to three-ball counts on both hitters before walking TJ Rumfield to bring Castro, a former Cleveland farmhand, to the plate.Cantillo’s control improved after the first. Ditto for the offense. He needed just seven pitches to get through the second and retired the side in order in the third.Halpin tied the score a 1-1 with a one-out homer off Gordon in the third. Halpin skied a ball 422-feet over the right field fence for his third homer of the season.It was the first time Halpin has homered since his two-homer game against the Twins on July 20.NextRHP Tanner Bibee (4-13, 4.01) vs. RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-4, 6.60) Saturday at 8:10 p.m. Guardians.TV, WTAM/1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network will carry the game.Paul Hoynes, born in Cleveland, has been the beat writer for the Indians/Guardians since 1983. He attended Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland and received a journalism degree from Marquette University. He...