CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 13: The Cleveland Guardians celebrate after Josh Naylor #22 hit a three run homer in the eighth inning during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field on May 13, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio.Photo: Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images
Through the first seven innings and a half, each of the Cleveland Guardians' mistakes costed them runs and allowed the Angels additional scoring opportunities. Trailing from the game's first hitter through the eighth inning, the Guardians' offensive woes seemed insurmountable to many, but a six-run inning en route to a 8-6 comeback win reminded everyone of the Guardians' potential that they carried through last season's playoff run.
The Guardians fell behind, 1-0, in the first after Angels' Mickey Moniak hit a leadoff home run, one of his three hits and three runs scored. However but they got two straight hits and as many runners in scoring position. First, Steven Kwan hit a leadoff double, then reached third base on Amed Rosario's single. With it, Rosario continued his hot start to the series after going three-for-five yesterday, finishing a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. After stealing second base on Jose Ramirez's strike out, he and Kwan had a chance to score. Kwan and Rosario tagged up as Josh Bell flied out to Hunter Renfroe in deep right field, who fired the ball to third base. As Kwan approached home plate, third baseman Anthony Rendon caught the throw on one bounce and tagged out a sliding Rosario at the bag in one swift motion, a split second before Kwan could score, completing the inning-ending double play, denying the Guardians' tying run, and escaping unscathed. The Guardians challenged the out call and that Kwan did not score, but were unsuccessful.
The Angels piled on in the third, starting with Mickey Moniak's one-out walk, and Mike Trout getting hit by a pitch. Next, Shohei Ohtani doubled to left, scoring Moniak and sending Trout to third base, doubling the Angels' lead. Capping off the scoring, Anthony Rendon got Trout home on a sacrifice fly to centerfield, extending the lead to 3-0.
In the fourth inning and for the second time in this game, the Guardians' first two hitters reached base, but once again the offense could not take advantage. After Jose Ramirez hit a leadoff double, and Josh Bell walked, Ramirez got picked off at second base as his hand rammed into shortstop Zach Neto's foot in front of the bag. However, the Guardians could not challenge the call because of their unsuccessful challenge in the first inning. The Guardians ended the inning after two straight lineouts.
Nevertheless, Cleveland's first two hitters got aboard in the sixth, but the third time was the charm as they also got on the board. Steven Kwan walked, stole second base, and scored on Amed Rosario's double down the left field line, cutting the Angels' lead to 3-1 and knocking out starter Reid Detmers from the game, who finished with three strike outs and six hits allowed through five innings. Then, reliver Chris Devenski induced a Jose Ramirez fly out to right field - this time, deep enough for Rosario to advance to third, and scored on a wild pitch to Josh Bell, bringing the Guardians within one run.
Meanwhile, Mickey Moniak continued his outburst in the seventh with a lead off single against reliever Enyel De Los Santos, then stole second base with two outs after Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani were retired. The following hitter, Luis Rengifo belted a single to right field, scoring Moniak and doubling the Angels' lead to 4-2. The Guardians were gearing for a repeat offensively in the bottom of the frame, but after Gabriel Arias walked, he got doubled up on Andres Gimenez's pop out to shortstop Zach Neto. Reliever Eli Morgan appeared in the eighth, but gave up two unearned runs with two outs. Matt Thaiss reached first base on a dropped pop up, then Zach Neto homered to left, putting the Angels up 6-2.
Despite their miscues through the first seven innings and a half, along with their scoring struggles to start this season, the Guardians reminded everyone in the eighth why they should never be counted out of a game. Pinch-hitter Will Brennan started the inning with a fly out, but worked a 10-pitch at-bat. After that, the offense strung together five straight hits: Steven Kwan and Amed Rosario singled, then Kwan scored on Jose Ramirez's single while Rosario scored on Josh Bell's, cutting the deficit to 6-4 and forcing the Angels to replace reliever Andrew Wantz with Ryan Tepera. However, Josh Naylor stepped up to the plate and belted a three-run home run to right field, sending the crowd into a frenzy as the Guardians went ahead 7-6 - the second straight game that Naylor hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning. Two hitters later, Andres Gimenez went deep to double the Guardians' lead to 8-6.
Trevor Stephan entered the ninth and retired the first two batters, but walked Luis Rengifo and gave up a single to Hunter Renfroe which allowed Rengifo to reach third. Brett Phillips pinch ran for Renfroe and stole second base, setting up the Angels with two runners in scoring position to potentially tie or lead in the ninth inning for the second straight game. However, Stephan forced Brandon Drury to ground out, preserving the Guardians' 8-6 comeback victory and notching his second save. Eli Morgan picked up the win to improve to 2-0 while Ryan Tepera took the loss after allowing the go-ahead home run. Starter Cal Quantrill took a no-decision, but notched his fifth quality start this season by allowing three runs through six innings.
Including a split through the first two games, Cleveland is now 22-2 in its last 24 home games against the Angels. Additionally, the Guardians can clinch their second home series victory with a win tomorrow with the first pitch at 11:35 AM. Patrick Sandoval (3-1, 3.41 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Angels and Tanner Bibee (1-1, 4.30 ERA) will take the hill for the Guardians.