With the Guardians somehow closing in on not just the Wild Card spot, but potentially the division, this final game against the White Sox was a must win.
Slade Cecconi was coming off his best start of the year, which can be cause for concern. Its pretty common to see a pitcher go deep one start then get absolutely lit up the next start. Slade was looking to repeat his previous start, throwing a no hitter into the fourth. Unfortunately a strike out was called a ball and the next pitch was, predictably, a hit. The home plate umpire was rather inconsistent throughout the entire game, earning himself chirps from both dugouts.
But, Cecconi made it that far into the game in part due to some great defensive plays from the Guardians.
Cecconi struggled in the fourth, giving up a lead off hit after the aforementioned poor call. With two outs and a runner on first, the White Sox scored first on a RBI double to center.
The Guardians came right back in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Kwan drew an eight pitch, lead off walk. José Ramírez hit a one-out single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Bo Naylor hit a two-out double that went over the head of the center fielder to score both base runners.
Chicago tied it up in the fifth with a rail scrapping homer to the bleachers that made it to the top of the wall by inches. Slade pitched into the sixth, ultimately being pulled for the lefty lefty match up. Slade finished the day 5.2IP, 3H, 2R/ER, 1BB, 4K.
Vogt turned to Tim Herrin for the final out of the sixth. Herrin struck the batter out on five pitches. Matt Festa came on in the seventh and continued his little hot streak. Festa struck out all three batters faced.
Bo Naylor took the reins back in his hand and launched a one-out solo home run to right center. This home run, like Chicago’s, just made it out of the yard and was almost robbed by the White Sox outfielder.
Bo’s run would be the only one scored that inning, despite singles from Schneemann and Kayfus and a walk from Rocchio to load them up. Kwan hit it directly to the right fielder to retire the side with bases loaded.
Hunter Gaddis pitched a clean eighth and Cade Smith was tasked with closing out the series. Cade made a quick strikeout for out one and gave up a single. The sequence repeated for the second out and second base runner. The tying run was on third and Andrew Benintendi was up to bat, leading to what could be a sticky situation for Cade. Benintendi hit a grounder towards second where Brayan Rocchio turned an unbelievable out to win the game.
Unbelievable defense coupled with stellar starting pitching gave the Guardians their first home series sweep since the White Sox were in town back in April. This is the kind of momentum that may not lead to a playoff run, but could spoil some others. The Guardians have the day off tomorrow before heading to Detroit for a must see series that could determine the fate of the AL Central. Cleveland is 6.5 games behind Detroit with 6 more games between the teams on the schedule. I’m sure I’m not the only one surprised to have meaningful baseball this late in the season, but this team never quits.
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