Guardians Spoil Rays Playoff Party With Franchise-Record Setting Comeback Win
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They did it again.
Can you believe it? Of course you can ... because for the second night in a row, and for a franchise-record 29th time this season, the Guardians won in their last at bat.
After producing extremely little offense all night against Tampa Bay starter Jeffrey Springs, the Guardians plated two runs in the eighth to knock off the Rays 2-1 and prevent them from clinching an American League Wild Card berth on Thursday night.
Cleveland leads Major League Baseball this year in infield hits, which made it all that much more fitting that they squeaked out an improbable victory on Thursday night.
After trailing 1-0 all night, the Guardians finally cracked the scoring column in the bottom of the eighth inning. Will Brennan came up with a pinch-hit single to open the frame, marking just Cleveland's fourth hit of the night. Myles Straw bunted him to second base before Steven Kwan came up with yet another clutch hit to tie the game. Kwan doubled to the left field corner to tie the game at 1-1.
Amed Rosario - last night's hero - moved Kwan to third on a ground out to second base. The Rays intentionally walked Jose Ramirez, forcing rookie Oscar Gonzalez to come up with the game-winning play.
Gonzalez hit a sharp ground ball on the right side of the infield that Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi dove and stopped, but couldn't field cleanly. He beat the play at first and brought Kwan home from third.
The comeback also bailed out Cal Quantrill, who was on track to take a tough luck (and historic) loss.
Since 1901, only four pitchers have ever gone 13-0 or better in any one ballpark. Chief Bender went 13-0 in St. Louis at Sportsman's Park from 1903-1908 and Whitey Ford finished with a 13-0 record from 1950-1961 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Vic Raschi holds the all-time record with a 14-0 record while pitching at Chicago's Comiskey Park between 1947-1955.
Quantrill is 13-0 in his 43 games/33 career starts at Progressive Field.
He threw well again this evening, needing just 86 pitches to get through six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He struck out four, hit one batter but didn't issue a walk.
The win didn't happen without a little ninth inning drama though. Trevor Stephan walked the bases loaded, but struck out Harold Ramirez and Choi and getting Isaac Paredes to pop out to end the game.
The Guardians took two out of three games in the series with Tampa, who they could potentially host next week in the best-of-3 A.L. Wild Card series. They open a 6-game series with the Kansas City Royals to close the regular season beginning Friday evening at 7:10 p.m.
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Read More:
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Rosario's Pinch-Hit, Walk-Of Lifts Cleveland Over Tampa Bay
WATCH: Guardians Prized Prospect Gabriel Arias Hammers First Major League Home Run
September Has Been A Month To Remember For The Cleveland Guardians
How To Get Guardians Playoff Tickets For Wild Card Round
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