CLEVELAND - The fireworks arrived late on Friday night at Progressive Field, even before the actual pyrotechnics were brought out.
Will Brennan’s first career walk-off on an RBI double capped off the last of multiple Guardians rallies for a 10-9 victory over the Houston Astros in 14 innings.
“It’s a marathon,” Brennan stated after Friday’s game. “Who knew that game would have gone 14 innings? It’s really important that we kept our minds in it. We stuck around, battled, and that’s what we do.”
Cleveland never led throughout the game until the final pitch, staging rallies in the 12th, 13th, and 14th innings after knotting the game at 6-6 on Josh Naylor’s two-out RBI double in the bottom of the 9th.
“I thought both teams played their hearts out,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said after the game. “There was so much that happened in that. We had great opportunities, and we didn’t score, but we made do. I give our guys credit for keeping playing.”
Houston jumped on Guardians starter Logan Allen (6.0 innings, nine hits, five earned runs, two walks, four strikeouts) for an early lead on a Jose Abreu 3-run home run in the top of the 1st inning, and made it 4-0 in the second on an RBI groundout by Mauricio Dubón.
The Guardians (30-33) scratched a run in the third inning on Naylor’s RBI grounder, and cut the Houston lead to 5-4 with a 3-run 5th that included RBIs from Steven Kwan, Amed Rosario, and Andres Gimenez, cutting down Astros starter Cristian Javier’s outing to five innings. Javier's streak of five consecutive winning decisions was snapped on Friday after he allowed seven hits and four earned runs - just the second time this season Javier has allowed four or more earned scores.
It was in the bottom of the 7th inning that the reign of José Ramírez continued.
One night after tagging the Boston Red Sox for three home runs, Ramírez marked his 10th homer of the season by roping a game-tying solo shot off Houston’s Rafael Montero.
The Astros (36-28) would grab the lead in the 8th inning on a run-scoring double by Jeremy Peña, but after Ramírez drew a two-out walk in the 9th, Naylor stepped in to rope a two-strike pitch off Ryan Pressly to the left field wall, where it fell 15 feet short of being a walk-off home run.
Once the game went to extra frames, both teams went nearly match-for-match in their scores (and near-scores), with Houston tallying a pair of runs off Guardians lefty Sam Hentges (2.0 innings, three hits, two earned runs, three strikeouts) and one run off Xzavion Curry. Cleveland would tie the game in the 12th on a Peña throwing error on a potential game-ending double play attempt, then matched the score in the 13th on Kwan’s RBI single.
Earlier, Kwan had made a run-saving catch on a sinking Jose Altuve fly ball to left that was overturned on a challenge call, ending the top of the 13th and keeping the Houston lead to one.
Francona described Kwan’s effort as “a game saver”, while Tyler Freeman added on Kwan: “He’s the same player each and every day, and when he’s on, it’s fun to watch.”
The game would continue, and after the Astros took a 9-8 lead on Kyle Tucker’s second extra-inning RBI single in the top of the 14th, Freeman - who entered the game in the 10th inning as a pinch runner for Josh Bell - slapped a game-tying single off Seth Martinez to set up Brennan’s game-ender on a fly ball to the left field wall.
“Whenever the challenge was brought up, we were ready, and we capitalized on every moment we could,” said Freeman.
Curry (2-0) earned the win for the Guardians, while Martinez (1-1) took the loss despite shouldering nearly four innings of relief work for Houston.
Cleveland has now won five of their last six games and will look to continue their winning ways on Saturday against the Astros. Triston McKenzie (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is expected to start against Houston right-hander J.P. France (1-1, 3.44 ERA).
Jun 9, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Will Brennan (17) celebrates his game-winning double in the 14th inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field.© David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
