Guardians Tie Game In Wild 9th Inning, But Get Walked Off 9-8

St. Louis Cardinals v Tampa Bay Rays

Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

TAMPA BAY, FL--- In a wild 9th inning that featured 3 wild pitches, the Guardians fell short to the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida 9-8 after a walk off solo home run from Wander Franco. The Guardians were up against a familiar face in Aaron Civale, he would go 5 innings giving up 7 hits and 2 runs. Those 2 runs came from 2 RBI singles, one from Ramon Laureano and another from Steven Kwan. We would also see the 2 year drought without a home run for Myles Straw end as he would hit a solo bomb in the 8th inning.

The real story of this game came in an absolutely wild 9th inning that featured the Guardians scoring 3 runs to tie the game at 8 on 3 walks, Ramon Laureano getting hit by a pitch, and 3 wild pitches. Both teams made errors leading to runs a theme for the night, in the 6th inning, Tampa Bay catcher Christian Bethancourt would be charged with a throwing error after trying to get Brayan Rocchio out at 2nd, he would advance to 3rd on the throw and would almost immediately be driven in by Myles Straw. Then in the 7th, Andres Gimenez would make a crucial throwing error on a routine inning ending double play that would allow 2 runs to score.

There is a lot to unwrap in the 9th inning, Tampa Bay reliver Pete Fairbanks would struggle with his command for the entire inning, walking the bases loaded, then throwing the first of 2 wild pitches, Jose Ramirez would score making the score 8-6. Then Fairbanks would throw his second wild pitch, Kole Calhoun would score, 8-7. After struggling with his command, Robert Stephenson would come in, he would then throw the 3rd wild pitch of the inning that would allow Ramon Laureano to come around and tie the game at 8. Sam Hentges would come in and pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning, almost immediately, Wander Franco would hit a bomb to win the game 9-8. The Guardians will stay in Tampa Bay and play 2 afternoon games throughout the weekend, 4:10 on Saturday and 1:40 on Sunday.


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