(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO -- The Cleveland Guardians broke open a tie game in the 7th inning on a 2-run long ball from Franmil Reyes, taking a late 3-1 lead on the hometown Royals. Cleveland reliever Eli Morgan crumbed in the 8th inning, giving up a two run homer off the bat of Whit Merrifield. Terry Francona opted to bring in the left hander Sam Hentges to force extra innings, but the Royals had other plans. Michael A Taylor ripped the game-winning RBI on a line-drive to right field, scoring Edward Oliveres to defeat the Guardians by the final score of 4-3.
The Guardians highly touted prospect Nolan Jones made his long-awaited debut and started it off with a bang. Jones jumped on an inside heater to rip it down the right-field line for an RBI double. After hitting his second base knock of the game, Nolan Jones was pulled for the recently DFA's Oscar Mercado.
Cleveland will look to get off the schneid on Saturday afternoon when they will send out Triston McKenzie to take on Jon Heasley. The first pitch is set for 4:10 pm ET at Ewing M Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.