Guardians' Cade Smith: Nails down sixth save
Smith allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth inning to record his sixth save of the season in an 8-6 win over the Blue Jays. He didn't walk or strike out a batter.
The right-hander got the job done with weak contact after giving up a pair of leadoff singles, getting Eloy Jimenez to ground into a double play before inducing a pop-up from Davis Schneider. Smith hasn't been as dominant to begin 2026 as he was the last two seasons, posting a 4.15 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 15:4 K:BB through 13 innings while converting six of eight save chances, and the culprit has been less movement on his 96.5 mph four-seam fastball -- after he produced a 32.2 percent whiff rate and .245 xwOBA with the pitch last season, he's seen those numbers regress to a 25.3 percent whiff rate and .383 xwOBA.
