CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians got to walk off at home for the fourth time this season thanks to Andres Gimenez.
Gimenez delivered an RBI single to right field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th to give the Guardians a 3-2 victory over the Oakland A’s, pulling Cleveland within a game of first place Minnesota in the AL Central despite being 34-38 on the season.
“I was happy for him because he was frustrated,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “He had gotten a couple pitches to hit earlier in the game off the left and he missed them and he was kind of mad at himself, so that was good for him.”
Here’s our Final 9 from Tuesday night.
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1. With Ramirez starting at second in the 10th, Josh Naylor was intentionally walked. Tyler Freeman laid down a sacrifice bunt and Ramirez beat the throw to third base to load the bases with no outs for Gimenez. “We had two lefties coming up, so they probably walk one, but we got another one coming up,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said, explaining why he had Freeman lay down the bunt. “They took a shot at third and rarely do you see Josey where he wasn't ready to slide and probably caught a break there because that would've been a little ugly.”
2. Cleveland started the night 0-8 with runners in scoring position before Amed Rosario delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to cut Oakland’s lead in half, 2-1. Jose Ramirez tied it with a double to left, scoring Rosario thanks in part to the ball rolling to the wall after A’s left fielder Seth Brown was unable to come up with a diving catch. “I thought our guys did a really good job and we didn't knock the ball over the ballpark for sure, but we were competitive and we hung around and we found a way to win,” Francona said. Cleveland went 3-12 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night, but the third hit won it. “I feel like in these situations your focus narrows it down to be a little more selective what you can do and obviously you want to win the game,” Gimenez said through an interpreter. “So I wanted to make sure I was able to get a good pitch to win the game.”
3. Aaron Civale deserved a better fate than a no decision Tuesday night, but the Guardians offense woke up just in time to take him off the hook and avoid his third loss of the season. “I thought he was terrific,” Francona said. “I mean he gave up two [runs] and spun the ball very well.” Civale allowed just two earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 6 2/3 innings of work. “Game’s still close enough to win,” Civale said. “That’s my job as a starter. That’s all of our jobs as starters is to give our team a chance to win. We do our job and we're going to have a chance.” The Guardians improved to 20-12 when their starter goes at least six innings.
4. Tony Kemp homered to right off Civale with one out in the top of the seventh to double the A’s lead on the Guardians to 2-0 but that ended the scoring for Oakland Tuesday night.
5. A two-out double by Guardians right fielder Will Brennan ended the evening for Ken Waldichuk, who opened the game for the A’s, after just 1 2/3 innings. Luis Medina was first out of the pen for Oakland, and he was able to get center fielder Myles Straw to fly out to right to end the inning. Medina kept the Guardians in check for 4 1/3 innings in relief for Oakland allowing just one run on four hits with four strikeouts, a walk and hit batter.
6. Oakland struck first in the top of the third when first baseman Ryan Noda bounced one to Josh Naylor at first, who took the out at the bag, which allowed second baseman Tony Kemp to score from third for a 1-0 A’s lead. Kemp singled to lead off the inning and got a big jump to score on the play.
7. Civale escaped a bases loaded with one out jam in the top of the fifth when he got Noda to line out to Naylor at first, who stepped on the bag to double off center fielder Esteury Ruiz, who reached on a catcher’s interference, for an inning ending double play.
8. Credit the Guardians bullpen – Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan, Emmanuel Clase and Enyel De Los Santos who combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. De Los Santos escaped unharmed with the runner starting the 10th at second to pick up the win. “It’s very different compared to coming into the inning with the bases empty,” De Los Santos said through an interpreter. “I feel it makes you be a little more aggressive, a little more into the attack mode, but at the same time, it’s really nice to know that you have a really good defense behind you and then you just focus on executing those pitches and that good things will happen.”
9. After Straw beat out a double to lead off the bottom of the seventh to end Medina’s night, chants of “Let’s go Bo!” broke out with Bo Naylor at the plate. A’s reliever Sam Moll struck Naylor out before surrendering RBI hits to Rosario and Ramirez. With runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Naylor was lifted for pinch hitter David Fry, who struck out to end the inning.
10. With the win, Cleveland improved to 14-17 in one-run games, 10-29 wen scoring three or fewer runs and 16-6 when they tally at east 10 hits.