Oscar Gonzalez belted a walk-off homer in the 15th inning as the Cleveland Guardians swept the best-of-three American League wild-card series against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays with a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
Gonzalez’s leadoff homer to left field against former Cleveland star Corey Kluber (0-1) ended a game that featured 16 pitchers and a postseason-record 39 strikeouts.
“I don’t think by that point we cared who hit it,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said of rookie Gonzalez’s game-winning homer. “It could have been one of the old guys. We didn’t care. We’re not biased. I was happy that he hit it.”
Cleveland advanced to a division series matchup against the AL East champion New York Yankees, beginning next Tuesday.
Sam Hentges (1-0) struck out six over three scoreless innings for the Guardians, who ended an eight-game postseason losing streak with a 2-1 victory in the series opener on Friday.
Tampa Bay dropped its seventh straight game overall after scoring a total of nine runs during that stretch.
Both teams’ starting pitchers set the tone early in a contest that became the first postseason game to reach the 14th inning without a run.
Tyler Glasnow, making his third start this season since returning from Tommy John surgery, allowed two hits over five scoreless innings.
Glasnow, who was expected to be on an innings limit, struck out five with no walks while throwing 63 pitches.
Tampa Bay struggled to generate any offense against Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie, who gave up two hits over six scoreless frames. He walked two and struck out eight.
McKenzie struck out the side in the third and held the Rays hitless until Isaac Paredes’ one-out single in the fifth.
The Rays had two runners on in the sixth with two outs, but Harold Ramirez lined out to left to end the inning.
“I saw guys trying to do too much,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “We were looking for the three-run homer with nobody on base, and when you take that mindset against good pitchers, they can set you down.”
Pete Fairbanks relieved Glasnow in the sixth and promptly walked the first two batters before exiting the game with numbness in his right index finger.
Fairbanks was replaced by Jason Adam, who hit Amed Rosario with a pitch to load the bases. Adam then extinguished the threat by striking out Jose Ramirez and inducing Josh Naylor to hit into an inning-ending double play.
The Guardians put the leadoff batter on base in the seventh on Gonzalez’s single, but Adam then struck out Andres Gimenez before Will Brennan grounded into a double play.
Tampa Bay had runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the 12th, but Manuel Margot grounded out on a stellar play by Ramirez, who made a backhanded play at third to end the inning.
–Field Level Media
