CLEVELAND — Guardians starting pitcher Joey Cantillo was effectively robbed of his last start after a rain delay forced his exit from the game after only 31 pitches, much earlier than expected.
He got his money’s worth the next time out.
Cantillo put together arguably his best outing of the season in a 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres Aug. 15 at Progressive Field, tossing six innings that included 18 consecutive outs without allowing a hit.
“Holy smokes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said after the win, which also happened to be the franchise’s 10,000th in its history. “That was super impressive.”
It didn’t start out that way. Cantillo gave up a hit and a walk to start the game in the first inning, which led to a run and an early 1-0 lead for the Padres on Manny Machado's double-play groundout.
From that point forward? Cantillo and the Guardians shut down the Padres like the San Diego offense was under lock and key. Cantillo went on to throw five more no-hit innings from the second inning on, allowing only two baserunners via walks.
Joey Cantillo stats
Guardians relievers Colin Holderman, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski combined to toss three no-hit innings from there, with Cleveland effectively throwing an eight-inning no-hitter, led by Cantillo’s outstanding start. The Guardians actually recorded 27 consecutive outs without allowing a hit from that point.
For Cantillo, it was redemption for Mother Nature dictating his last outing.
“Obviously that was really unfortunate,” Cantillo said afterward. “Never really had a situation like that where the ball gets taken out of your hands.”
It was also a step in a positive direction for Cantillo, who’s had a last few weeks in the Guardians rotation that could be represented by a yo-yo.
Across a six-start stretch between mid-June and mid-July, he was electric, posting a 1.59 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 34 innings. He threw at least five innings in all six outings, allowed zero or one runs in five of them and struck out nine batters three times.
But since then, at least until his Aug. 15 gem against the Padres, Cantillo had been hit hard, with a 5.79 ERA in 18⅔ innings.
Vogt viewed Cantillo’s fastball as the catalyst for the turnaround. He's worked on a slider since the offseason, but lately his fastball and curveball working off each other have acted as the biggest indicators as to which direction each outing goes. Add in a changeup that’s working, and Cantillo again looked like a frontline starter — joining All-Stars Parker Messick and Foster Griffin and Gavin Williams — after a rough few weeks, which has become the trend.
“When he throws enough fastballs to make hitters aware of it ... it makes them honor that,” Vogt said. “Changeup and curveball, they were both gross tonight. It was a really well-pitched game by Joey.”
Cantillo used surfing as part of his offseason training program. Considering the highs and lows of his 2026, how he rides the waves of the stretch run to this season could be a major factor in whether the Guardians make it to October.
Ryan Lewis covers the Guardians for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians starter Joey Cantillo riding the waves during 2026 season