After coming back from five runs behind on Tuesday to beat the Los Angeles Angels, the Cleveland Guardians erased a three-run deficit on Wednesday to sweep their foes in LA and extend their winning streak to seven games. Steven Kwan and Travis Bazzana came up big in the ninth inning, and Cleveland won 4-3 with the bullpen playing a big role, too.
Left-hander Joey Cantillo had to battle control issues and walked seven. The Guardians’ starter did log a quality start, though, allowing just three runs (two earned) on two hits in six innings despite the heavy traffic on the basepaths. He struck out just one.
Cantillo kept the Guardians in the game, and in the end, his efforts paid off.
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The offense racked up 12 hits, two of them doubles. One of them, by Kwan, tied the game at three runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth.
With the win, Cleveland is now 68-66 and will rest on Thursday before returning home to face the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field this weekend. Each game is a must-win affair at this point if they want to make the postseason.
The home team scored first in the opening frame. With a man on first, Vaughn Grissom hit a soft ground ball to Cantillo, but his throw was horrible and reached right field, allowing the runner to score.
In the second inning, Cantillo hit Zach Neto with a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in the second run for the Angels. Then, Mike Trout drove in Denzer Guzman with a sac fly, making it a 3-0 ballgame.
Bazzana plated Brayan Rocchio with a sac fly in the top of the fifth, as the Guardians cut the deficit to 3-1. Later in the game, in the eighth, Cleveland scored its second run thanks to Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single.
In the ninth, the Guardians flipped the score and stole the win from the Halos. Kwan’s ground-rule double drove in Petey Halpin with the tying run, and Bazzana then hit his second sac fly of the game to send Rocchio home with the go-ahead run.
Bazzana, Jose Ramirez, Lowe, and Rocchio each racked up two hits, with the rookie second baseman driving in two runs and the shortstop scoring a pair. Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and Erik Sabrowski each had scoreless appearances, with the latter earning his first save of the year.
The fight for a postseason spot will continue on Friday for the Guardians. Tanner Bibee will face Michael Wacha in a duel of righties.
NEXT: Insider Reveals Guardians Have Bigger Goal After Hot Streak
