CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 22: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI single off Dean Kremer #64 of the Baltimore Orioles during the fourth inning at Progressive Field on September 22, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH--- The Guardians sure are making Tito's last home games memorable, getting a thrilling walk off win Friday night defeating the Baltimore Orioles 9-8. We would also see the long awaited return of ace Shane Bieber, who was limited to 80 pitches, he would go one over his limit through 5 innings, he gave up 6 hits and 5 runs.
Both teams got going early on, two names from Baltimore we would hear over and over again throughout the night was Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander. Henderson would be responsible for a lead off single and would be driven in by an Anthony Santander double, Santander would then score on a wild pitch from Shane Bieber, his first of 2 in his outing. The Guardians would answer with 2 runs of their own, both Kole Calhoun's and Andres Gimenez's RBI would be hits to Anthony Santander, Calhoun with a double, then Gimenez with a SAC fly. The Guardians would get another run in the 2nd inning off a Myles Straw single. In that same inning the Guardians would get an opportunity to blow the game open with bases loaded, but Kole Calhoun would strike out to end the inning, this would be the only big opportunity the Guardians would miss. Both teams would slug it out for the rest of the game, with extra base hit after extra base hit, tie game after tie game, Gunnar Henderson RBI after Gunnar Henderson RBI, but the game would all come down to a very eventful 9th inning....
Emmanuel Clase would be tasked to pitch in the 9th inning with a 7-6 lead, Clase would get the "O's" down to their last strike 3 consecutive times, first on Anthony Santander, he reached after being hit by a pitch, then Ryan O'Hearn, he would reach on a single, then Aaron Hicks with the clutch 2 out, 2 strike 2 run double to give Baltimore the 8-7 lead, this would be Clase's 12th blown save of the year. Between the hits, Clase would also throw a wild pitch that would allow both runners to reach scoring position for Aaron Hicks to knock them in. The Guardians now had to walk the game off and make things go full circle, answer 2 Baltimore runs with 2 of their own in the last inning of the game. Andres Gimenez made that reality look very realistic getting into scoring position right away with a lead off double, later being advanced to 3rd base thanks to a Gabriel Arias grounder to second base. This would bring up "Chill Will" Will Brennan, he was responsible for a run back in the 7th inning thanks to a 2 out RBI single. Baltimore made the interesting decision of intentionally walking him, and putting the winning run on base to face David Fry. Fry would be the hero, hitting a 2 out 2 run double off the 19 foot wall in left center field to win the game 9-8.
The Guardians and Orioles will continue to duke it out Saturday night, first pitch is set for 6:10.