Alex Cobb earned his first win in almost a year, and Andrés Giménez drove in three runs, leading the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians to a 6-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
José Ramírez, Josh Naylor, and Will Brennan also added RBIs for Cleveland, which swept the three-game series and extended its winning streak to five games. The Guardians are 72-49 and have the best home record in the majors at 38-20.
Cleveland’s recent success started after they lost a season-high seven games in a row from August 3-9.
“That was a tough stretch, but it says a lot about the criteria of the team and the way we approach difficult situations,” Giménez said through an interpreter. “We kept doing the process and doing what we need to do. That tells you a lot about what baseball is.”
Cobb (1-1) gave up one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings, with three strikeouts and two walks. This was his first win since pitching a one-hitter for San Francisco against Cincinnati on August 29 last year.
The 36-year-old had left hip surgery on October 31 and was traded to Cleveland on July 30.
Cobb and lefty Matthew Boyd, another in-season addition coming back from a major injury, combined to pitch 11 innings over two days.
“It’s been nice to have someone here who is going through the same thing and you can bounce stuff off of,” Cobb said. “At certain times, I feel great, and when you’re out there, you go into attack mode. But I’m definitely not in midseason form.”
Jameson Taillon (8-7) gave up four runs in six innings as the Cubs lost their third straight game after a four-game winning streak. Chicago is now 5 1/2 games behind a National League wild-card spot.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Seiya Suzuki tripled off the center-field wall and scored on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly. Chicago managed just five hits against four Guardians pitchers.
