CLEVELAND — Daniel Schneemann broke open a tight game Friday night with a grand slam in the seventh inning, sending the Cleveland Guardians past the Baltimore Orioles after a scoreless duel through six. Schneemann launched the 0-1 pitch from Anthony Nunez 407 feet over the right-field fence with two outs, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead.
Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter and José Ramírez all scored on the swing, and it was Schneemann’s second grand slam in the majors. The blast came after the Guardians loaded the bases with no outs against Grant Wolfram and then watched Hunter Gaddis take over in relief of Tanner Bibee.
Bibee gave Cleveland exactly the kind of start it needed. He worked six scoreless innings, allowed four hits and three walks, struck out five and threw 96 pitches, 60 for strikes. Chris Bassitt matched him for most of the night, holding the Guardians scoreless through five innings while allowing four hits and four walks, striking out two and finishing at 100 pitches with 56 strikes.
The game turned on a sequence that showed why Schneemann keeps finding his way into the middle of these nights. Before the home run, he made a diving stop on a grounder by Taylor Ward and fired across to first baseman Rhys Hoskins for the second out. Later, Pete Alonso singled past a diving Schneemann and was left stranded, a reminder that Cleveland’s defense had been sharp long before the seventh-inning swing changed the score.
The Guardians entered Friday at 11-9, half a game behind the Minnesota Twins, who were 11-8, in the American League Central. They had already beaten Baltimore 4-2 on Thursday, and this game showed the same formula: enough pitching to stay in it, enough contact to wait for one swing that decided everything.