Naylor Comes In Clutch Twice With Game-Tying Grand Slam, Three-Run Home Run In Extras
The Cleveland Guardians had won seven of their last nine and the mojo was rolling, but it looked like the White Sox were going to derail it all at the start of Monday night's game. But, Josh Naylor and the Guardians had the "never say die" attitude, and the team erased a six-run deficit in the most dramatic fashion to push it to extras and ultimately win it.
With Steven Kwan as the only base runner after a walk in the first, he got himself into scoring position with a steal. With two outs, Gavin Sheets dropped a ball in right field and gave the Guardians an early 1-0 lead.
As we went to the home half of the frame, Zach Plesac had the ball in his hand as the starting pitcher, and immediately found himself in the hole. This outing made six of the last seven games a Guardians starting pitcher would allow the opposing team to score in the first inning.
In the bottom of the first Plesac hit Yoán Moncada who was making his first appearance for the season tonight after returning from injury. With two out, and just Moncada on first, Luis Robert singled to center.
Right after, Plesac walked Yasmani Grandal. Then, threw a wild pitch, scoring Moncada. Next, Sheets, who made the error in the first and was looking to make up for it, took him deep to right for a three-run shot, putting the Sox up 4-1.
Pleasac would go on to settle in after the tumultuous first inning until he reached the seventh. With one out, Leury García reached on a fielding error by Owen Miller at second. Tim Anderson would double, scoring García to put the Sox up 5-1, and ending Plesac's night.
For the night, he got through 6.1 innings pitched, allowing five fits, five runs, four walks, and had four strikeouts.
The Guardians would score another run in the eighth with a leadoff single to center off Kwan's bat and a double from Josh Naylor, but time was running out.
The White Sox then tacked on three more in the home half at the hand of reliever Anthony Gose after AJ Pollock hit a three run homer to left. Amed Rosario was getting another look out in left field, and did drop a fly ball prior, allowing the extra runner on.
The Ninth With Life
The Guardians got some life in the ninth with a solo shot by Andrés Giménez to left. Rosario would get on base with his third hit of the night and would eventually score after a couple of fielding breakdowns. The errors also allowed Austin Hedges to reach, and and made it 8-4.
Kwan would then get on after a fielder's choice, and José Ramírez would work a walk to give the Guardians two on with two out. Miller got himself on with a single to load the bases, and that's when Tony La Russa decided this next situation was too important.
La Russa went to the pen and put in his closer, Liam Hendriks, to seal the game. Well, Naylor had other plans, and jumped on the first pitch and crushed the ball over the center field fence to tie the game.
Finishing It In Extra Innings
In the 10th, Ernie Clement pinch-ran for Franmil Reyes to start the inning. Giménez doubled to left to give the Guardians the 9-8 advantage and it looked like they were going to squeak it out.
But, the team found itself in trouble in the home half with Emmanuel Clase on the mound. With a runner starting on second, Pollock singled to right to give them first and third. Clase was late to the plate to try to get the runner out at home after the bunt to once again tie the game up 9-9.
But, the Guardians would get another crack at it with Myles Straw starting on second in the 11th. Ramírez would work another walk, but the team was still down to two outs after Miller made the second out.
Once again, Naylor came up to the plate and hit the ball over the right field wall with the go ahead, unreal, three-run home run. The Guardians would go on to win it 12-9 to cap off the unbelievable comeback. According to the win probability tracker on Baseball Savant, the Guardians a 99.5% chance of losing when the ninth had started.
Phew. What an absolute wild game for the Guardians. After all of that, they are now 15-14 on the season, in what will be remembered as the "Josh Naylor Game." Naylor had eight RBIs on the night, and made some major league history to go along with it.
As for tomorrow, Cal Quantrill (1-1, 3.54) is on the mound opposite of Lucas Giolito (1-1, 3.20) for the Sox on Tuesday as the Guardians will look to take another one in the Windy City.
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