Bazzana, Rocchio hit walk-offs, Guardians sweep Tigers in twinbill
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CLEVELAND -- Travis Bazzana singled home Brayan Rocchio in the 10th inning to give the Cleveland Guardians a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers and a sweep of their day-night doubleheader Friday.
Bazzana tied the score with a two-run homer off Jacob Waguespack in the eighth, then lined the ball up the middle against Kenley Jansen (4-6) in the 10th. Rocchio had reached on a fielder's choice before stealing second and third.
In the opener, Rocchio hit a solo homer in the ninth inning after connecting on a tying grand slam in the fourth, rallying the Guardians to a 7-6 victory. It marked the first time Cleveland won both games of a doubleheader in walk-off fashion since Aug. 19, 1984, against Milwaukee.
Hunter Gaddis (3-3) pitched two clean innings in the nightcap to earn the win, keeping the Guardians (72-70) in sole possession of the final American League wild-card position.
Tigers starter Andrew Sears carried a shutout into the sixth until Nathaniel Lowe doubled in José Ramírez to pull the Guardians to 3-1. The left-hander gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings in his third major league appearance.
Detroit went ahead 2-0 in the third when Hao-Yu Lee singled in Zach McKinstry and Kevin McGonigle followed with an RBI double to score Gleyber Torres. Torres scored again in the fifth on Eduardo Valencia's single to extend the lead against Foster Griffin.
Lee was thrown out at home later in the third and exited with a bruised left shin after running into catcher Austin Hedges.
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was ejected by plate umpire Manny Gonzalez in the fifth after intervening in a dispute between Gonzalez and Hedges.
Guardians left fielder Angel Martínez was removed in the fifth with a bruised left shoulder, one inning after colliding with Rocchio while pursuing a popup. Designated hitter Chase DeLauter was lifted for Bazzana in the sixth because of a right wrist sprain.
Game 1
Rocchio hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning after connecting on a tying grand slam in the fourth, rallying the Cleveland Guardians to a 7-6 comeback victory over the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a split doubleheader on Friday.
Rocchio became the sixth player in MLB history with a grand slam and a walk-off in the same game. The last was Boston's Jack Clark on July 31, 1991.
With the win, the Guardians remained in the final American League wild-card position.
Cleveland scored six unanswered runs after falling behind 6-1 in the third, capped by Rocchio's leadoff homer to left field in the ninth off Drew Sommers (1-4). It was his third career walk-off home run and his initial grand slam.
Cade Smith (4-1) pitched the ninth for the win, which was the Guardians' third in seven games on their critical homestand. The Tigers fell to 4-15 since Aug. 14.
Detroit pushed its lead out to 6-1 in the third on Spencer Torkelson's solo homer off Slade Cecconi before the Guardians erupted for five in the fourth. Travis Bazzana had an RBI single before Rocchio sent Keider Montero's pitch 366 feet over the fence in right.
Rookies Max Clark and Ben Malgeri each had two-run singles in the first, when the Tigers scored four times against Logan Allen in his first start since July 18. Gleyber Torres had two singles and two runs in the first two innings.
Montero allowed six runs in four innings, while Allen gave up five in 2 1/3 innings. Clark had three singles.
The first pitch was delayed by 1 hour and 4 minutes because of rain.
Up next
Tigers LHP Framber Valdez (8-10, 4.36 ERA) faces Guardians LHP Parker Messick (11-8, 2.46) in the third game of the series today.