CLEVELAND, Ohio — The holiday weekend skies over Cleveland couldn’t have been painted any better for baseball — clear blue, 70 degrees, with a crisp hint of fall drifting through the breeze.
After a Saturday spent immersed in the return of college football, fans at Progressive Field shifted their attention back to the Guardians on Sunday, eager to see if Cleveland could finish off a sweep of the playoff-hungry Seattle Mariners.
Guardians fans were sent home with a sour taste of what could have been, and how much of the 4-2 loss was caused by the players and not a mistake by the umpiring crew.
The loss left Cleveland four games behind the Mariners in the race for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.
The soundtrack to the afternoon that ended in disappointment was made enjoyable by the Cleveland National Air Show overhead, U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets shaking windows and invigorating fans in their seats.
But for the first part of the game, nothing was louder than the crack of Daniel Schneemann’s bat.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – AUGUST 31: Steven Kwan #38 and Daniel Schneemann #10 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrate a two-run home run hit by Schneemann during the third inning against the Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field on August 31, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)Getty Images
In the third inning, Steven Kwan sliced a double into the left-field corner — the 100th two-bagger of his career — to break up Seattle starter Bryce Miller’s early no-hit bid.
Schneemann quickly followed, blasting a two-run homer 408 feet to right-center. The ball jumped off his bat at 103 mph and gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead, sending the crowd into a roar that took their attention away from the airshow.
Behind the early support, Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee looked comfortable. He danced through traffic in the second after Brayan Rocchio sprawled into the hole to snag a grounder, only for first baseman Kyle Manzardo — filling in after Carlos Santana’s departure — to miss the scoop.
Bibee worked around it, and Rocchio added another gem in the sixth when he tracked a wind-blown pop-up into shallow left to take a hit away from Josh Naylor.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – AUGUST 31: Randy Arozarena #56 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on August 31, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)Getty Images
The Mariners, fighting to stay alive in the American League wild-card race, found their opening in the fifth. J.P. Crawford led off with a single, and Randy Arozarena followed with a moonshot — 421 feet into the left-field seats — before celebrating in the dugout with Seattle’s prized ceremonial trident. Just like that, it was 2-2.
Bibee, again in early-inning trouble, nearly escaped the seventh unscathed.
Manzardo made amends with a diving stop to cut down Dominic Canzone at second on a sharp grounder by Crawford, but Bibee’s 91st pitch put Cole Young aboard with a walk. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt turned to Matt Festa, who intentionally walked Cal Raleigh after falling behind 2-0 in the count to load the bases and bring up Julio Rodríguez.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – AUGUST 31: Matt Festa #52 of the Cleveland Guardians reacts after a replay review on a two-run infield single hit by Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Progressive Field on August 31, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)Getty Images
That’s when the questions began to buzz in Cleveland’s minds.
Rodríguez took an 0-2 pitch that nicked the top of the strike zone but was called a ball by home plate umpire Shane Livensparger, keeping Seattle’s center fielder alive.
Rodríguez then worked a full-count and slapped a slow grounder up the middle. Schneemann ranged over and fired to first, but Rodríguez beat it by less than a half-step, according to the umpiring crew.
Two runs scored on the bang-bang play, confirmed after a tense review that brought about an outcry from the home crowd while Bibee stood speechless in the dugout with his hands on his head, stunned.
Those two runs ballooned his line to four earned on the day and immediately put Cleveland in a 4-2 hole.
“It’s hard to tell. I’m just sick of it coming back [as] stands,” Vogt said postgame. “…Our replay is great. I think we do a nice job. There’s just been way too many stands calls this year.”
Festa ended the inning with a slick pickoff of Raleigh at second, and the crowd gave him a boisterous cheer after raining boos on the umpires during the review. But the damage had already tilted the game.
From there, the Guardians’ bats never stirred. Miller settled in for Seattle, allowing just two runs on two hits across six innings, while Cleveland managed only its two hits in the third inning. Then, the Mariners’ bullpen (Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz) handled the Guardians effortlessly, not allowing a hit over the final three innings.
“We have to get more than two hits to win a game,” Vogt said. “We battled. I thought our at-bats were okay. I thought we followed the plan pretty well. We wanted to jump this fastball. We hit some balls really hard at people. We just gotta get more hits.”
By the time Seattle closer Muñoz locked down the ninth, the Guardians’ defeat was sealed and a chance at a sweep vanished.
Cleveland fans may have gone home without a broom in hand, but they were treated to a show, both in the air and on the field.
Up next
The Guardians travel to Boston for a three-game stretch beginning Monday at Fenway Park to start the month of September and to make their last push at a playoff spot. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. ET.
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