Travis Bazzana singled home Brayan Rocchio with two outs in the 10th inning, giving the Cleveland Guardians a 4-3 victory and their second walk-off win of the day over the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
Cleveland swept the doubleheader when Bazzana smacked a pitch from Kenley Jansen (4-6) back through the box, scoring Rocchio after he had stolen two bases.
Hunter Gaddis (3-3) pitched two perfect innings. The Guardians (72-70) held onto the final American League postseason berth, further hurting the fading chances of the Tigers (64-77).
In the first game, Rocchio hit a walk-off solo homer to complete a five-run comeback in a 7-6 victory. Rocchio belted a grand slam in the fourth to begin his five-RBI afternoon.
In the nightcap, the Guardians trailed 3-1 until Bazzana hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Jacob Waguespack, who had walked leadoff hitter Steven Kwan.
Detroit built a 2-0 lead on consecutive RBI hits in the third from Hao-Yu Lee and Kevin McGonigle. The visitors added a third run in the fifth off Foster Griffin, who gave up an RBI single to Eduardo Valencia.
Tigers rookie Andrew Sears, whose two previous appearances were in relief, carried a shutout until Nathaniel Lowe doubled in Jose Ramírez to end Sears’ evening with two outs in the sixth. He allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two.
Griffin gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out three with two walks.
Injuries and arguments were the theme of the first five frames, beginning with Lee exiting with a left shin contusion after colliding with Guardians catcher Austin Hedges while trying to score in the third.
Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter sprained his left wrist during an at-bat in the third. Teammate Angel Martinez was removed with a bruised left shoulder after Rocchio ran into him while catching a short fly in the fourth.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt also had an abbreviated night. He ran onto the field in the fifth to intervene between Hedges and home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez, who were arguing for the second time, and was ejected.
–Field Level Media
