CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Guardians just don’t give up.
Down 4-1, Cleveland rallied with a three-run sixth to tie the game at 4 but former Guardian Owen Miller delivered an RBI double off the top of the left field wall in the top of the 10th to give Milwaukee a 5-4 victory to take the weekend series 2 games to 1.
Here’s our Final 10 from the homestand finale that saw the Guardians go 4-2.
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1. Miller’s shot off the left field wall was reviewed by the umpires for a possible two-run home run but replay showed it hit the front of the yellow line and stayed a double. It was Miller’s second double of the afternoon. Guardians reliever Trevor Stephan suffered the loss while Brewers reliever Elvis Peguero got the win after striking out designated hitter Jose Ramirez and first baseman Josh Naylor in the bottom of the 10th.
2. Cleveland’s bullpen was outstanding again with three more scoreless innings of relief combined between Enyel De Los Santos, Sam Hentges and Emmanuel Clase.
3. Naylor lead off the bottom of the second with a solo blast to right center off Brewers starter Corbin Burnes to give the Guardians an early 1-0 lead. It was the 10th home run of the year for Naylor, who has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games. He also added a double in the seventh inning.
4. Neither starter factored in the decision. Aaron Civale, who retired the last eight hitters he faced, allowed four runs on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts in six innings Sunday while Burnes also allowed four runs but on eight hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. “I think we're never out of a game,” Civale said. “It was a well fought game today, another one run game. Unfortunately, I ended up on the wrong side of it, but they had a lead early and we bounced back. Never, never going to quit.”
5. The Brewers scored three off Civale in the top of the third. Center fielder Joey Wiemer led the inning off with a single. Designated hitter Christian Yelich doubled to left center scoring Wiemer and Miller followed with a double to right center scoring Yelich. First baseman Rowdy Tellez singled to right to bring home Miller for a 3-1 lead. “It happened pretty quick,” Civale said. “Single to Wiemer and then two first pitches [I] just left them a little bit too high. They're mid-thigh, both of them. Can't be too upset, maybe a little more fine with those, but those two pitches back to back that they jumped on and then hung one to Rowdy.”
6. Milwaukee added another run in the fourth inning on Joey Wiemer's sacrifice fly to left to extend Brewers lead to 4-1. Moments earlier left fielder Blake Perkins, who singled, was caught stealing by Guardians catcher Bo Naylor after Perkins' hand came off the bag allowing second baseman Andres Gimenez to tag him out. Originally called safe, the call was overturned by Francona’s challenge. “He’s spinning it extremely well,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said of Civale. “Just there was that sequence there where he missed three straight hitters and it really cost him.”
7. The Guardians answered with a three-run sixth. Gimenez brought home Cleveland’s second run with an RBI triple to right center to score designated hitter Jose Ramirez, who walked. A wild pitch by Burnes allowed Gimenez to score and Tyler Freeman to go first to third after he walked before Will Brennan tied the game at 4 with an RBI single to left. “He’s got that power cutter and when he started to get runners on, he really pounds it down and it’s heavy and there’s some power to it,” Francona said of Burnes. “He, he's impressive.”
8. Bo Naylor’s two hit afternoon, a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth and two-out single in the sixth, got him on the interstate. He’s now hitting .150 since being called up from AAA Columbus.
9. Cal Quantrill's rehab outing today at AA Akron against Binghamton saw him throw five innings where he did not allow a run on three hits. Quantrill walked one and struck out five while throwing 58 pitches, 38 for strikes.
10. The Guardians had another strong weekend at the gate. With a crowd of 24,701 Sunday, the team drew 87,109 for the weekend and have drawn 856,396 through 39 home dates.