CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 21: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI single off Grayson Rodriguez #30 of the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning at Progressive Field on September 21, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)Photo: Ron Schwane / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
CLEVELAND, OH--- The Guardians were up against a stellar young arm in Grayson Rodriguez Thursday night, getting the 5-2 win on a 8th inning that would see three Baltimore bullpen arms combine to hit two Cleveland batters while walking three. The Guardians bullpen would also have a bit of an implosion, as the Orioles would tie the game in their half of the 8th inning.
Hunter Gaddis would be on the mound for the Guardians Thursday night, he would only throw 56 pitches through three innings as he was taking the place of an injured Tanner Biebee in the rotation, and with already having thrown Sunday for AAA Columbus. Both teams offensively wouldn't quite get things going in the early innings, it would take a Jose Ramirez RBI single and Josh Naylor SAC fly in the 5th inning to get the first two runs of the game on the board. The 8th inning would see a large chunk of run scored and bullpen implosions from both teams, but primarily from Baltimore. Trevor Stephan would be the bullpen arm that would allow 2 runs in the 8th inning after Gunnar Henderson would hit a double, getting two Baltimore runners in scoring position with only 1 out. Anthony Santander would drive in Ramon Urias with a groundout, then Henderson would be brought in by a Ryan O' Hearn RBI single to tie the game at two. In the bottom half, it would be Cleveland's turn to rack up runs, things would really get going with Andres Gimenez getting his 2nd hit of the night and loading the bases. Ramon Laureano would then draw a bases loaded walk, allowing Josh Naylor, who was one of three Cleveland batters hit by a pitch in the 8th inning to score, 3-2 Guardians. Younger brother Bo would get credited with an RBI single after popping up a ball in the infield, but the ball was dropped by Adam Frazier allowing Gimenez to come home and make the score 4-2, the 3rd and final run of the inning and game would come from Gabriel Arias driving in Laureano with a groundout. Steven Kwan would later walk to load the bases again in the 8th, but nothing would come from it.
Shane Bieber will make his long awaited return to the mound Friday night, he will be limited on his pitch count, along with Triston McKenzie making his return Sunday afternoon for what is widely believed to be manager Tito Francona's last home game as the manager of the Cleveland Guardians. Listen to all Guardians games live on WTAM 1100 AM, 106.9 FM, the free iHeartRadio app, and HERE