ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JULY 14: Jonah Heim #28 of the Texas Rangers gestures to his dugout after hitting an RBI double during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field on July 14, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
ARLINGTON, TX--- The Guardians blew a historic 4-0 lead at Globe Life Field in Texas Friday night, losing 12-4. I say historic because the 4-0 lead came from 2 home runs from the Naylor brothers in the 3rd inning, the first set of brothers to hit a home run in the same game in franchise history. The last set of brothers to achieve such a feat were B.J and Justin Upton on September 27th 2014. Some scary pregame news also came down the line, Shane Bieber will miss his scheduled start on Monday after receiving a MRI on his right elbow/forearm.
Things started getting out of hand fast after Aaron Civale was pulled after the 5th inning via a manger's decision, only throwing 79 pitches through 5 innings while giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. Those 2 runs came via a Nathaniel Lowe solo home run and Travis Jankowksi RBI single in the 4th inning. From there on out, we would see the Guardians' bullpen give up 10 un answered runs. Eli Morgan was the first out of the pen, giving up an RBI single to Jonah Heim in the 6th, Nick Sandlin would stop the bleeding in that same inning, getting out of a bases loaded jam. The 7th and 8th innings would see an absolute explosion of runs from the Texas offense. First in the 7th, the Rangers would tie the game at 4 with a Corey Seager RBI double, things then got out of hand quickly with an RBI singe from Adolis Garcia, 2 run double from Jonah Heim, and another RBI single from Leody Taveras to extend the lead to 8-4. The 8th inning was not only the dagger in Cleveland's hearts, but what some would call "overkill" with 3 home runs from Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim all in the 8th inning.
When asked postgame about the decision of pulling Civale after the 5th, Guardians manager Tito Francona said "he started tiring in the 5th" and continued by praising the Texas lineup saying "once they got it going it was hard to stop it". The Guardians will stay in Texas and pay Saturday afternoon at 4:10, Gavin Williams will be on the mound for the Guardians.