Guardians rally past Tigers for 5-4 win in 10 innings
Updated: May. 08, 2024, 5:52 p.m.|Published: May. 08, 2024, 3:55 p.m.
By Joe Noga, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Brayan Rocchio’s line drive single to center scored Ramón Laureano with the game-winning run off Detroit’s Alex Lange as the Guardians rallied for a 5-4 win in 10 innings at Progressive Field.
It was Rocchio’s first career walk-off plate appearance and the third walk-off win for Cleveland this season.
David Fry launched a solo home run to right field with one out in the ninth off Tigers left-hander Andrew Chafin that forced extra innings and handed Chafin his second blown save.
Fry, who moved behind the plate in the eighth after starting in left field, entered the game hitting .391 in 23 at-bats against left-handed pitching. It marked his second home run of the year and first against a lefty. Manager Stephen Vogt said Fry’s versatility is part of the DNA of the roster.
“I can’t speak enough to what David means to us being able to catch, play first, play third, play outfield, and obviously come up with clutch hit after clutch hit when he’s not playing every day,” Vogt said. “He’s just a baseball player and David’s invaluable for us.”
Fry is hitting .429 with five RBI during at-bats in the eighth inning or later this season.
Emmanuel Clase picked up the win thanks, in part, to some nifty defense by Rocchio and Andrés Giménez in the top of the 10th.
With automatic runner Javier Baez at second, pinch hitter Ryan Vilade sent a smash to short that Rocchio fielded and threw behind Baez to Giménez, who applied the tag at second. It erased a runner in scoring position and allowed Clase (2-1, 0.47) to get the final two outs on a strikeout of Riley Greene and an Andy Ibanez ground out.
Vogt credited Rocchio for his ability to read Baez’s movements and react.
“For him to quick-flip it to Gimi and also Gimi gave him the whistle that he had the play (in front of him),” Vogt said. “They’re always communicating whether we hear it or not, and just a heads up play by Rocchio right there to get that out.”
In the bottom of the 10th, Tyler Freeman’s sacrifice bunt moved Laureano — the automatic runner — to third and set up Rocchio’s heroics. Detroit pulled center fielder Wenceel Perez to the infield before Rocchio lined a first-pitch curveball from Lange (0-2, 0.64) over his head and touched off a celebration as he rounded first base.
Rocchio’s ninth career multi-hit game ended in a mobbing by his teammates.
“The real feeling is that sense of confidence from all the guys cheering me on because they’ve been through the ups and downs and they’ve been supporting me even in hard times,” Rocchio said via Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Right now for me that’s all really good to get that support and then continue pushing to do better.
Cleveland has 11 comeback wins and is now 6-2 in extra-inning games. The Guardians won a series against the Tigers for the first time since Aug. 11, 2022.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee continued to struggle with putting hitters away, and Cleveland’s offense struggled to find baserunners for most of the afternoon.
Bibee was gone after just four innings, equaling his shortest outing of the season. He threw 44 pitches in the fourth as the Tigers turned a two-run deficit into a 4-2 lead. Ibanez, who slugged a pair of home runs to lead the Tigers to a win Tuesday, opened the inning with a 10-pitch at-bat that he capped with a leadoff single.
Ibanez fouled off five consecutive pitches from Bibee before getting a hanging slider that he could handle and pulling it through the left side. The at-bat seemed to take the steam out of Bibee’s outing as Kerry Carpenter followed with a one-out double to right that put a pair of runners in scoring position for Colt Keith.
Keith delivered a two-run single into right center that knotted the score at two runs apiece, and gave him 10 RBI. Zach McKinstry gave Detroit the lead with an RBI single to left and Baez’s RBI sacrifice fly to right added to the Tigers’ advantage.
But as it has all season, Cleveland’s bullpen came through with six scoreless innings of relief work to pick up Bibee. Sam Hentges, Nick Sandlin and Hunter Gaddis each worked multiple scoreless innings to get the ball to Clase. Sandlin struck out a pair while Gaddis worked around a Kerry Carpenter double in the eighth.
Vogt was almost at a loss for words when asked to describe his bullpen’s effort to this point in the season.
“If they didn’t do what they did, we were not even talking about the 10th inning,” Vogt said. “What the bullpen has done up to this point this year has been nothing short of remarkable. And these guys don’t get enough credit for it. They take the ball, they go as long as they can every single night and they pick us up and they allow us chances to win.”
Reese Olson to settle in after the second inning. Olson, winless in his previous six starts, limited the Guardians to one hit and a pair of walks over six innings and retired the final 14 batters he faced.
Olson was victimized by a defensive miscue in the second that allowed the Guardians to score first. After Josh Naylor drew a leadoff walk, Fry sent a ground ball to third base that Zach McKinstry fired to second to start a double play. But Ibanez, dropped McKinstry’s throw, allowing Naylor to advance to third as Fry dove head-first safely into second.
A Will Brennan walk loaded the bases before Gabriel Arias struck out, but Austin Hedges delivered a two-run single through the hole between third and short for a 2-0 advantage. Hedges entered the game batting .143 with runners in scoring position, including two RBI.
Hedges, who belted a two-run home run in his last start on Saturday, has multiple RBI in back-to-back games for the first time since June 28, 2021.
Kyle Manzardo, added to the roster on Monday from Triple-A Columbus had been 0 for 7 with five strikeouts before his pinch-hit appearance in the seventh. Manzardo lined a single to left off Tigers righty Jason Foley. Tigers pitchers had retired 16 straight before Manzardo’s first big league hit.
Rocchio led off the eighth with a single against Tigers lefty Joey Wentz and stole second before advancing to third on catcher Jake Rogers’ throwing error. Rocchio scored when Giménez checked his swing on a fastball from Wentz, but put the ball in play as it hit the knob of his bat.
Ibanez fielded the slow grounder and threw Giménez out at first as Rocchio crossed the plate, cutting Detroit’s lead to a run. Cleveland challenged the ruling on the field that Giménez was out at first, but the call was confirmed by replay.
Fry said the Guardians stayed positive, even when they were trailing late in the game and scratching for hits.
“We talk about it all the time when we’re down,” Fry said. “It’s just like, ‘Yeah, we’re probably going to win tonight, no matter what the score is.’ And even before the game, you’re just walking in, you’re like, ‘Yeah, we feel like we’re going to win the series today.’ It’s just the confidence we have as a group and just belief we have in one another.”
Next:
The Guardians open a seven-game road trip in Chicago on Thursday. Right-hander Ben Lively (1-1, 2.08) will take the mound for Cleveland while the White Sox counter with righty Erick Fedde (2-0, 3.46). First pitch from Guaranteed Rate Field is set for 7:40 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network will carry the game.
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ROCCHIO WALK OFF HIT IN THE 10TH
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FRY GAME TYING HOMER IN THE 9TH
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ROCCHIO DEFENSIVE GEM AT SHORT
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HEDGES 2-RUN BASE HIT
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CONDENSED GAME
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