News & Notes - Walk-Off Hit Leads to Another Series Win

News and Notes for Thursday, May 9th, 2024

The Cleveland Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in Wednesday’s rubber match day game. The Cleveland Guardians are now 24-13, maintaining the 2nd best record in the American League and staying 2.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals.

Tanner Bibee took the mound battling against RHP Reese Olson. Tanner looked true to form in the first two innings. Bibee struck out the first three Detroit batters and was successful against the 4-5-6 batters with a ground out, a strikeout, and a pop out. Unfortunately in the Top of the 4th, two singles and a double from the Tigers offense would be enough to tie the game. Bibee couldn’t get out of the inning unscathed, with a HBP being brought home with a double by the next batter and a sac fly from Javier Baez the Tigers would enter the bottom of the 4th with a 4-2 lead. Bibee was only able to pitch 4.0 innings. His final line reads 5H, 4R, 0BB, and 5K.

Vogt turned the game over to his shiny new toy, recently returning from the IL, Sam Hentges. Sam delivered in a way that any fan who has been around a season or two would expect. Sam threw 1.2 innings of shutout, no hits, no walks baseball with 1 strikeout. Having Sam back bolsters an already dominant bullpen as he set up RHP Nick Sandlin.

Nick finished out the 6th inning for Hentges, coming back and finishing the 7th inning. Sandlin only gave up 1 hit in the 6th and struck out 2. Hunter Gaddis came in the 8th and 9th inning making quick work of the Tigers offense. Across both innings, Gaddis faced 7 batters, threw 26 pitches, and gave up only 1 hit.

Clase finished out the game in the 10th inning, earning his 2nd win of the season. He struck out 1 with 0H, 0R, and 0BB. Clase is now sitting at a 0.47 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP.

Cleveland offense was able to hold up their end of the deal to the bullpen and came out on top in extras.

In the Top of the 2nd, Josh Naylor continued his on base streak against the Tigers and started the inning with a walk. David Fry would come up with a fielder’s choice single but, thanks to an error from Detroit’s defense, Josh Naylor advanced to 3rd. Will Brennan was walked to load the bases and Arias struckout for the 1st out. Up to bat came none other than catcher Austin Charles Hedges. Hedgey hit a go-ahead, 2 RBI single to left field on the first pitch.

The offense remained quiet until the 7th inning when Kyle Manzardo was brought in to pinch hit for Gabriel Arias. Manzardo was able to deliver when called upon and recorded his first major league hit.

In the bottom of the 8th the Guardians cut the lead down to one when Gimenez “ground out softly” off the knob of his bat scoring Rocchio.

In the bottom of the 9th, down by 1, and with 1 out, David Fry came up big again to hit a solo HR to tie the game. David Fry has done so much for this team in only 57 ABs. With 18 hits, he accounts for 10 RBI and is currently batting a .316 with a .929 OPS.

Wednesday’s victory would come in the bottom of the 10th inning with 1 out and Brayan Rocchio up to bat. Tigers manager AJ Hinch made the decision to pull an outfielder in to line the infield with 5 defenders. On the first pitch delivered to Rocchio, he hit the perfect bloop over second base and into center field to score the ghost runner. This highlight is best enjoyed with the lovely Los Guardians broadcasters at WARF 1350.

This was Rocchio’s first career walk-off hit. Brayan Rocchio’s bat has started to liven up. Over the last 7 games, Rocchio is hitting a .286 BA with 6 H, 1 RBI, and 5 BBs.

Hopefully the Guardians can carry this momentum into Chicago as they travel to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the Chicago White Sox. If the bullpen can remain dominant and if starting pitching can go deep into games in this upcoming series it could set the team up for a strong appearance against the reigning champions - the Texas Rangers. There has been an uptick in consistent offense production from batters that have been battling for a position on the team. Estevan Florial has assumed the lead off role in Steven Kwan’s absence. If Florial can show patience at the plate, it is only a matter of time for pitchers to lob a pitch in the bottom of the zone for Florial to launch out of the park. Rocchio and Brennan have gotten steady at the plate, with Will starting to punish pitchers for pitching around Josh Naylor. The team is starting to lock in and most of the roles are settling into place. Now that Kyle Manzardo got his first major league hit under his belt, if he can start producing how we’ve seen him produce in AAA, if Josh Naylor can continue to literally own the Chicago White Sox, and if Jose can wake his bat up from its dormant slumber, the month of May will end up looking just as promising as the month of April.

Cleveland Guardians News:

Carlos Carrasco and Estevan Florial visited Cleveland Clinic pediatric patients.

Around the League:

Pirates call up Paul Skenes.

White Sox send Robbie Grossman to the Rangers.

St. Louis Cardinal Wilson Contreras (forearm) and Cincinnati Red Christian Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) to IL with broken bones.

LSU Softball Pitcher Sydney Berzon goes 14IP, securing the W against Alabama.