The Cleveland Guardians all but ended the postseason dreams of the visiting Detroit Tigers with two walk-off, comeback wins in their Friday split doubleheader.
Cleveland’s Parker Messick (11-8, 2.46 ERA) will oppose fellow left-hander Framber Valdez (8-10, 4.36) of Detroit in the third contest of the teams’ weekend series on Saturday night.
The Guardians are 9-2 this season against the Tigers, winning 14 of 17 regular-season matchups over their American League Central rival since last Sept. 16.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “That’s a good team across the way, and they came up with some really big swings in both games. But it stings a lot, all the things that are piling up on us right now.”
The Guardians (72-70) maintained their tenuous hold on the third and final AL wild-card position with wins of 7-6 and 4-3 (10 innings) on Friday. They increased their lead over the Toronto Blue Jays to one game and are two games ahead of the Texas Rangers.
Had the Tigers (64-77) not blown a five-run lead in the opener and a three-run advantage in the nightcap, they would have closed within 3 1/2 games of Cleveland. Instead, Detroit is 7 1/2 behind with 21 games to play.
“This whole day, two walk-off wins, was just a huge mood boost for all of us,” said Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis, who picked up the victory in the second game by retiring all six hitters he faced.
“Not just winning but coming back in big ways with everyone contributing.”
Cleveland trails the first-place Chicago White Sox by only 2 1/2 games in the AL Central.
Brayan Rocchio was the hero for the Guardians in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, becoming the sixth player in MLB history with a grand slam and a walk-off homer in the same contest. The Guardians won by scoring six unanswered runs.
Rookie Travis Bazzana did the honors in the second game by ripping a tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning before singling off Kenley Jansen to score Rocchio in the 10th for the one-run triumph.
“It’s been amazing, especially today, since I came here,” said Guardians pitcher Foster Griffin, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Washington Nationals last month. “This clubhouse is full of guys who have done this before.”
Messick, a top contender for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, is 0-2 with a 4.60 ERA and five homers allowed over 15 2/3 innings in three career starts against Detroit.
He has a 1.80 ERA in 10 starts since the beginning of July but has gone only 4-3 because of Cleveland’s erratic offense.
The emotional Valdez is going in the opposite direction with three losses in his last four outings, failing to reach the seventh inning in any of them while giving up 14 earned runs in 23 1/3 total innings.
He is 5-2 with a 3.43 ERA in seven career games against Cleveland but has lost both starts to the franchise this season while allowing eight runs.
“I’m still new to all of this, but I think everyone in here has a sick feeling in their stomach,” Detroit third baseman Kevin McGonigle said. “The only thing we can do is use it as fuel and come out the next day and play harder.”
–Field Level Media
