Joey Cantillo and Cade Smith combined on a five-hit shutout and Jose Ramirez homered among his three hits as the Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 2-0 on Tuesday.
Cantillo (5-3) was replaced by Smith after allowing a leadoff single to Kyle Isbel to begin the ninth inning.
After Maikel Garcia flied out, Isbel moved to second on a wild pitch before going to third on Bobby Witt Jr.’s single. Smith then struck out Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez for his 12th save.
Ramirez came within a triple of hitting for the cycle for Cleveland (74-70), which won its fifth straight game and maintained its position in second place in the American League Central over the Royals (73-72).
Cantillo allowed four hits with no walks and five strikeouts over a career-high eight innings.
The game featured a pitcher’s duel between Cantillo and Kansas City starter Noah Cameron (7-7), who gave up two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks over seven innings.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Ramirez’s solo homer. The 380-foot shot was Ramirez’s 28th homer of the season.
The Guardians tacked on another run in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles by Ramirez and David Fry.
Fry had two hits for Cleveland, which opened the four-game series with a 10-2 victory Monday.
Cantillo retired 17 batters in a row before Jonathan India reached on an infield single with one out in the eighth inning. He quickly escaped unscathed when Nick Loftin grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Witt had one of Kansas City’s five hits in his return to the starting lineup after missing Monday’s game with back spasms.
