Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels: Final Score & Recap

The Cleveland Guardians overcame a two-run deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 at Angel Stadium on August 26, 2026, completing a comeback that the DiamondIQ model's estimate placed at just 42 percent in the Angels' favor before first pitch. The Angels built their lead through the first two innings, but Cleveland chipped away with a run in the fifth and another in the eighth before delivering the decisive blow in the ninth. The Guardians held the Angels to just three hits on the night while collecting twelve of their own, a disparity that ultimately told the story of the game.

The pivotal sequence came in the top of the ninth against Ryan Watson, when Steven Kwan laced a double that swung the DiamondIQ model's win probability by 45.8 percentage points, the single largest shift of the game. Travis Bazzana followed with a sacrifice fly that added another 13.3 percentage points, giving Cleveland a 4-3 lead and putting the contest in closer Erik Sabrowski's hands. The Angels mounted a brief threat in the bottom half, as Josh Lowe singled to push Cleveland's win probability back down by 12.3 points, but Oswald Peraza's pop out ended the rally and swung the model 21.4 points back toward the Guardians, sealing the result.

Kwan finished as the game's top performer by win probability added at plus 40.9 percent with a RE24 of plus 1.3, his ninth-inning double serving as the catalytic moment of the comeback. Bazzana contributed plus 22.2 percent WPA, while Grayson Rodriguez led the pitching staff with plus 20.6 percent WPA in what was a dominant collective effort on the mound. The lone significant negative swing on Cleveland's side came in the eighth, when Angel Martínez grounded into a double play off Luke Murphy, costing the Guardians 14.1 percentage points of win probability before the ninth-inning rally rendered it moot.