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The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians both opened the 2026 MLB season with series wins, showcasing timely hitting, resilience, and standout individual performances to secure victories in their early matchups.

Why it matters

As two of Ohio’s major league baseball franchises, the Reds and Guardians victories to start the season demonstrate the state’s continued passion for the sport and the competitiveness of these regional rivals as they aim to contend for playoff spots in the new year.

The details

The Reds took two of three games from the St. Louis Cardinals, including a dramatic 9th-inning comeback win in the series opener. The Guardians also won their series against the Chicago White Sox, taking two of three games with a walk-off hit in the finale.

• The 2026 MLB season began on March 26, 2026.
• The Reds-Cardinals series took place from March 26-28, 2026.
• The Guardians-White Sox series was played from March 27-29, 2026.

What’s next

The Reds and Guardians will look to continue their strong starts as they face off against division rivals in the coming weeks, with the Reds hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Guardians traveling to take on the Detroit Tigers.

AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) – A mother and her 12-year-old son are dead after a shooting Saturday night near Firestone Stadium in Akron. A suspect is in custody.

Akron police responded to multiple 911 calls around 8:10 p.m. for a shooting near 30 West Wilbeth Road.

Officers found a car partially on fire that had crashed into the tree line on Hemlock Street south of West Wilbeth Road.

Inside the car, officers found 12-year-old Jericho L. Mangual, who had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 8:34 p.m.

The driver, 47-year-old Tania Mangual, the mother of the 12-year-old, had also been shot. She was taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center, where she died around 8:50 p.m.

A 2-year-old boy, also her son, was inside the car and was not injured. He was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital as a precaution.

Witness describes fiery crash

Jackie Travis, who lives across the street, watched police respond to the crash.

“It was on fire underneath and the engine was on fire,” Travis said.

Charred ground and branches mark where the car came to rest.

Suspect identified, turned himself in

Dispatchers received multiple 911 calls, including one from a 49-year-old woman who fled the scene after being shot. She provided detectives with information that helped identify the suspect as 28-year-old Brandon T. Casto.

Akron Police detectives executed a search warrant at an apartment connected to the suspect and found multiple firearms, firearm accessories and a large collection of ammunition.

Investigators learned that Casto told friends he was fleeing Akron. He turned himself in more than 100 miles away in Meigs County. He is currently being held at the Southeast Regional Jail in Nelsonville, facing two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault.

Police have not released a motive or Casto’s connection to the family.

A growing memorial now marks the spot where the car crashed. People who say they know the family left candles and a white teddy bear.

Akron Police Major Crimes Unit detectives are still examining the circumstances surrounding this incident, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip.

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The 60th Annual Car Parts Warehouse I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama wraps up this weekend, marking the last show at the longtime International Exposition (I-X) Center.

Organizers say 900 cars are parked for the event, featuring flashy cars and rebuilt classics.

Cleveland City Council approved plans last year to repurpose the event space for an unnamed private company. What replaces it, nobody is saying.

“Never miss, never miss,” said Jack Marino, who has attended many shows at the I-X Center. “It’s sad because it’s sort of a tradition to this area.”

Marino said he is worried about what Cleveland could lose when the building closes.

Show features diverse collection

“Anything that has a piston that makes it go is in the show. We even have a tank here that was built in 1964 when we were the Cleveland tank plant,” said Scott McGorty with the I-X Center.

George Conrad owns 221 cars and brought a few to the show, including a purple classic.

“Knowing this is possibly the last show, hopefully not. I wanted to bring an eclectic mix of really different things,” said Conrad.

Conrad said someone else started the build on the purple car and never finished it.

“Kind of a step child project to me. An older gentleman had purchased it and started the build and unfortunately he passed away,” said Conrad. “We took the project on, completely disassembled it and kind of restarted the whole thing. Three years, we don’t want to talk about the money.”

Conrad finished it just in time. There will not be another show according to the organizers of the autorama.

No replacement venue in sight

The I-X Center has hosted events for decades, including the garden show, the auto show, the boat show and the RV show. The city and the building’s owner have not released details on what comes next. Only that the expo space will close.

Organizers say no other building in Northeast Ohio is big enough to host the autorama.

“This show has always been about people as much as it is about cars,” said Steve Legerski, show manager for the I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama. “For 60 years, families have grown up coming to this event together. Builders have debuted lifelong projects here.”

The event features hundreds of vehicles, specialty exhibits, competitions and a marketplace.

The final consumer show inside the Cleveland I-X Center begins Friday and runs through Sunday, March 29. The show is the 60th Annual Car Parts Warehouse I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama.

Tickets are available at www.pistonpowershow.com and at all 23 Car Parts Warehouse retail locations.

The I-X Center was built in 1942 as the Cleveland Bomber Plant and was a manufacturing site for the B-29 bomber during World War II.

Later, it was known as the Cleveland Tank Plant and tanks and other military vehicles were built there.

Once the war ended, the center had several different uses before becoming the I-X Center in 1985.

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.