Steven Kwan was the hero twice, first sending the game into extra innings with a two-out, RBI single in the ninth inning, then delivering a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 11th in the Cleveland Guardians’ 7-6 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
After the Rays (82-54) took the lead in the top of the 11th, the Guardians (66-70) responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to pull off the comeback win. Jose Tena tied it with a one-out, RBI single off Chris Devenski (3-3), scoring Myles Straw. Bo Naylor, who walked on 10 pitches, advanced to third on Tena’s hit to set the stage for Kwan.
Kwan went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run.
In the 11th inning, the Rays scored off Sam Hentges (3-2) on Brandon Lowe’s sacrifice fly.
In the ninth, Kwan’s RBI single off Pete Fairbanks tied the game. Will Brennan started the inning with a single, and with two outs, Oscar Gonzalez singled.
Four pitches into the game, the Rays jumped out front on leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz’s 18th homer of the season.
But Cleveland responded quickly.
In the first inning, singles by Kwan, Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laureano off Rays starter Zack Littell loaded the bases. With one out, Andres Gimenez’s RBI groundout made it 1-1.
Cleveland grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second. The Guardians placed runners on the corners with no outs on back-to-back singles by Gabriel Arias and Naylor. Gonzalez drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI groundout to third.
Arias delivered a big blow in the fourth inning, belting a two-run, opposite-field home run to right. Brennan led the inning off with a single, and Arias came through with his ninth home run.
Tampa Bay countered in the fifth on Christian Bethancourt’s three-run home run off Guardians starter Logan Allen that made it 4-4. Lake Raley and Taylor Walls each singled, and Bethancourt crushed home run No. 9.
The Rays took a 5-4 lead in the sixth on Jose Siri’s 25th home run.
Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected by home plate umpire CB Bucknor in the fifth for arguing an automatic ball called on Littell with Gimenez at the plate.
–Field Level Media
