On the third day of their first homestand of the season - Easter Sunday, nonetheless - Will Brennan delivered twice in keeping the Guardians alive for a 7-6 win in 12 innings over the Seattle Mariners.
The 25-year-old Brennan hit a two-out, two-on double in the bottom of the ninth to deep right-center field, tying the game at 3-3, where it would stand before Seattle plated a pair of runs in the top of the 11th. However, after Andres Gimenez doubled home a run to lead off the bottom half, Brennan slipped a grounder past infielder Kolten Wong to match the score at 5-all.
Brennan, who became the first Cleveland player in at least a half-century to have two game-tying hits in the ninth inning or later, described the victory after the game: “That was a huge win to salvage that series. When you slap the ball around, and put the ball in play, you’re never really out of it...for whatever reason. It’s crazy.”
“For him, I was really happy,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said about Brennan postgame. “He’a had some tough at-bats. For a young kid, he’s coming in facing closers. Not playing everyday like he’s used to. He’s just always ready.”
Brennan’s pair of hits paved the way for the 12th inning, where José Ramírez sprinted home on a grounder hit by Josh Bell and managed to avoid the tag, clinching the victory. Bell, who was 0-for-5 hitting before the 12th, found some salvation in what has been a tough start to his season - according to his manager, at least.
“You saw everybody jumping on him,” Francona described. “”I think that’s going to do him a world of good.”
Before Bell’s at-bat, the Guardians caught a break with runners on first and second, as Mariners reliever Penn Murfee’s pickoff attempt to second went into center field, advancing runners Ramírez and Amed Rosario. Rosario would score on Josh Naylor’s ensuing grounder to first before Bell ended the game.
Tim Herrin picked up his first major league win in just one-third an inning of work, as the Guardians bullpen - including James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, Trevor Stephan, Enyel De Los Santos, Nick Sandlin, and Herrin - shouldered the workload following Zach Plesac’s 7-inning performance, in which the right-hander allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six - all on his slider.
“That pitch was feeling good for me today,” “”I know with [left-handed batters], the gameplay is going to be looking away for the changeup, so we just switched it up on them and started cutting the other way. For the most part, all the lefties were fooled. We just kept it down in the zone for righties…and it worked well.”
