Joc Pederson hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, then after Arizona blew its lead in the ninth, Eugenio Suarez’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly sent the surging Diamondbacks to a 7-6 victory over the host Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.
With Arizona down 5-4 and a man on, Pederson lined a Scott Barlow pitch into the right-field seats for his 18th homer. However, the Guardians answered in the ninth when Bo Naylor drove a pitch from Ryan Thompson (6-3) off the 19-foot-high wall in left-center field that went for a triple. Pinch-hitter Daniel Schneemann’s sacrifice fly tied the contest.
Suarez, though, delivered a one-out sacrifice fly off Emmanuel Clase (4-2) and Justin Martinez stranded a pair of runners in the ninth for Arizona, which has won 10 of 12 and is 22-9 since June 29. Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno opened the game with back-to-back homers for the Diamondbacks.
Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez each had three hits for the AL Central-leading Guardians, who have lost three straight.
Marte sent the first pitch of the game over that wall in left against Logan Allen, who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus for his first start since July 6. Four pitches later, Moreno also went deep.
The Guardians picked up Allen, who took batted balls to the head and leg on the night, in their half of the first. Arizona ace Zac Gallen yielded an RBI double to Ramirez, who scored on Josh Naylor’s groundout to tie it at 2-2.
Cleveland went ahead in the second. Gimenez led off with a double and scored when Bo Naylor laced a single into center.
Allen allowed just those two runs in five innings. Then Cade Smith took over in the sixth and yielded two. Suarez roped a one-out, RBI double into the left-field corner. The Diamondbacks then went ahead on Geraldo Perdomo’s RBI groundout.
However, Cleveland regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on second and third, Gimenez bounced a Gallen pitch past the drawn-in Arizona infield and into center for a two-RBI single off Gallen, who gave up five runs in seven innings.
Moreno exited with a strained groin in the second.
–Field Level Media
