KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JUNE 29: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians steals home plate and scores the go ahead run past the tag from Salvador Perez #13 of the Kansas City Royals during the tenth inning at Kauffman Stadium on June 29, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.Photo: Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
The Cleveland Guardians nearly swept the Kansas City Royals, especially after Jose Ramirez, the engine that often gets the offense going, pulled off a daring base running play to put Cleveland ahead with two outs in the 10th inning. However a Royals' eighth inning rally as well as a tenth inning walk off prevented the Guardians from reaching .500 for the first time since April 28th.
After four scoreless innings the Guardians jumped ahead in the fifth starting with Steven Kwan's lead off single. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch to Amed Rosario followed by a fly out, then scored on Jose Ramirez's sacrifice fly. With two outs, Josh Naylor doubled deep to left field and scored on Josh Bell's pop up single to left field, putting Cleveland up 2-0.
Meanwhile, Shane Bieber cruised through the extreme heat, striking out eight batters while allowing just two hits (both doubles) and one walk in six innings. One of those hits was Drew Waters' leadoff double in the third inning, although Bieber picked him off while attempting to steal third base. The Royals went hitless against Enyel De Los Santos, but got to Trevor Stephan in the eighth. Nicky Lopez drew a walk with one out, reached third on Drew Waters' single to right field, then scored on pinch-hitter Edward Olivares' sacrifice fly to put the Royals on the board. During the next at-bat, Waters stole second base and scored on Nick Pratto's single to center field, tying the score at two.
Neither team scored in the ninth, but with two outs in the 10th against long-time Cleveland nemesis Aroldis Chapman in relief, Jose Ramirez made what appeared to be the play of the game. Leading off third base, Ramirez dashed for home plate off Chapman's pitch 0-2 pitch to Andres Gimenez. He slid head first away from catcher Salvador Perez and reached for the far-corner of the plate away from the tag. Initially ruled out, the Guardians challenged the call and replay showed that Ramirez narrowly avoided the tag to score and put the Guardians ahead 3-2.
Emmanuel Clase entered in the 10th to attempt his 25th save, but allowed a leadoff single to Nicky Lopez, resulting in runners on the corners; Kyle Isbel started on second base and advanced to third as a ghost runner. Clase struck out Drew Walters, but then with one-out on a 2-2 count, surrendered a game-winning two run double down the left field line to Freddy Fermin. After Isbel scored, Lopez scampered around the bases to beat Steven Kwan's toss to home plate to seal the Royal's 4-3 victory and deny the Guardians their second sweep of the season.
Despite out-hitting the Royals, 13-6 team hits, the Guardians left 10 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the first inning, and two runners on in the fourth. Several base runners were thrown out throughout the game as well. In the second inning, Myles Straw got picked off first base. Then in the fourth, Andres Gimenez got thrown out at home while trying to score from third on a slow rolling grounder. Next, Josh Bell got thrown out in the fifth while trying to advance from first to third on a bloop single. Finally in the sixth inning Will Brennan got thrown out at third base while trying to stretch a double into a triple.
The Guardians (39-41) will stay on the road and begin a three-game series tomorrow at 2:20 PM against the Chicago Cubs (37-41). Cal Quantrill is scheduled to make his first start since May 30th after being on the Injured List due to shoulder inflammation.