CLEVELAND — The Guardians dropped Friday's game but rebounded Saturday and won Sunday afternoon's rubber match against the San Francisco Giants 5-4.
The Guardians (56-32), aided on Saturday by Jhonkensy Noel's third home run in his first eight games in the majors, have continued a power surge that has them in first place in the American League.
Carlos Carrasco took the mound for the Guardians opposite the Giants' Hayden Birdsong, and after both starting pitchers were done for the day, Cleveland's Bo Naylor hit a decisive, pinch-hit, three-run home run in the sixth inning.
"There's no greater feeling in the world than coming off the bench and putting your team ahead," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I couldn't be more happy for Bo and the moment that he had today."
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Ahead by two runs, the Guardians turned to closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning. He gave up a one-out double to Matt Chapman, who scored on a groundout to cut Cleveland's lead to 5-4.
Then Luis Matos reached first on a throwing error by third baseman Angel Martinez.
Despite the drama, Clase induced Blake Wisely into a game-ending groundout to second base. Clase recorded his AL-leading 27th save of the season.
In order, Guardians relievers Cade Smith, Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis shut down the Giants (44-47) in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, respectively. None of them allowed a hit.
Smith earned the win, improving to 4-1 this season.
With runners on first and second base and two outs, Bo Naylor pinch hit for fellow Guardians catcher Austin Hedges in the sixth inning and provided a heroic at-bat.
Naylor hit a three-run home run to right field off Giants reliever Sean Hjelle to give the Guardians a 5-3 lead. It was Naylor's first career pinch-hit homer and Cleveland's fourth this season. The 378-foot homer had an exit velocity of 99 mph and drove in Andres Gimenez and Tyler Freeman, both of whom singled with two outs.
"Another thing that is a part of being a big leaguer is whether you're in there or you're not in that starting lineup, you've got to be ready," Naylor said. "You've got to be focused on the game and just be ready for if your name gets called upon. So it's really just controlling that part of the game, making sure that you're taking care of that side and available in case the team needs you."
Hjelle took the loss, falling to 3-3 this season.
The Guardians replaced Carrasco with Smith to begin the sixth inning.
Carrasco pitched five innings and allowed six hits, three runs and a walk. He struck out four. Of his 86 pitches, 60 were strikes.
After Birdsong struck out Hedges, allowed a single against Brayan Rocchio, struck out Steven Kwan and walked Martinez to start the fifth inning, the Giants made a pitching change. They summoned Hjelle to face Jose Ramirez, who then struck out to end the inning.
Birdsong pitched 4⅔ innings, allowing five hits and two runs, walking two and striking out five. He threw 85 pitches, including 54 strikes.
A six-time All-Star third baseman, Ramirez passed Jim Thome for third place on Cleveland baseball's career extra-base hit list as the Guardians rallied in the fourth inning.
After going hitless through three innings, the Guardians awakened on offense. Martinez led off with a single, and Ramirez followed with a ground-rule double to center field. It was Ramirez's 621st career extra-base hit.
Josh Naylor then delivered an RBI single to cut San Francisco's lead to 3-1. Daniel Schneemann's ensuing RBI double trimmed the Guardians' deficit to 3-2.
All of the damage via four consecutive hits was done with no outs, but the Guardians squandered chances to do more. Gimenez struck out with two runners in scoring position. Josh Naylor was thrown out at home as Freeman reached first on a fielder's choice, and the call at home plate survived a Guardians challenge. Birdsong picked off Freeman at first for the third out.
No. 9 hitter Nick Ahmed led off with a double off the left-field wall. Later in the third inning, he scored on a two-out, RBI single to center field by Heliot Ramos, boosting the Giants' advantage to 3-0 amid a rocky outing for Carrasco.
The Guardians went hitless against Birdsong through the first three innings.
Michael Conforto smashed a two-run home run to right field off Carrasco, giving the Giants a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Conforto's 440-foot homer had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph. Patrick Bailey scored on the homer after leading off with a single.
After Carrasco worked a one-two-three first inning, the Guardians stranded a runner in scoring position against Birdsong to end the opening inning in a scoreless tie.
The Guardians' Martinez walked and then advanced to second base on a Ramirez groundout. But Josh Naylor flew out to left field for the third out, leaving Martinez stranded.
Here is some pregame information :
The Guardians optioned Logan Allen to Triple-A Columbus and added fellow pitcher Spencer Howard to the 26-man roster on Sunday.
The Guardians executed a trade for Howard on Friday (more info below).
Allen is 8-4 this season with a 5.67 ERA in 87⅓ innings. He has struck out 76 and walked 35. His WHIP is 1.55.
Vogt said "it was tough" to send Allen to the minors.
"Logan's such a big part of our success so far through this year, and I think it's an opportunity for Logan to go down and get some consistency back," Vogt said Sunday during his pregame media availability. "We've seen it where he'll have one outing where he is out there, he's efficient, he's filling up the strike zone, he goes six innings, and then he'll have one where he kind of struggles, a lot of pitches, struggles to find the strike zone and doesn't quite make it that far.
"With Logan, he's been working really hard on some delivery, some different things that are going to help him with that consistency. We just felt like this is a time for you to go down, take a deep breath, continue to work on those things, get back to being the best version of you."
Prior to Friday's game, the Guardians completed a trade to boost their pitching depth by acquiring the right-handed Howard from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations.
Howard will join the Guardians in the next few days. Right-handed pitcher Wes Parsons was designated for assignment.
Howard, 27, owns a career 6.93 ERA with 130 strikeouts in 139 innings across five seasons in the major leagues, which includes stints with the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and the Giants this year. This season, he has a 5.63 ERA in 24 innings.
Howard was originally a second-round pick by the Phillies in the draft.
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Guardians option Triston McKenzie to Triple-A Columbus
With starting pitcher Triston McKenzie dealing with command issues, the Guardians sent him down to Triple-A as Gavin Williams returned from the injured list earlier this week.
Vogt said Sunday the best edition of the Guardians would have Allen and McKenzie at their best and in the starting rotation.
"I don't think it's ever easy to send two of your guys to Triple A," Vogt added. "It's not fun. It's not fun for them, not fun for us. We try not to look at our record. We try to take it day to day. I know I'm going to stay right there, but I think for us it's just what's best for them and for us long term. And we don't anticipate either of them being [in the minors] long, but just to get them a breather."
How can I watch, listen or stream the Cleveland Guardians game today?
The game was televised locally by Bally Sports Great Lakes and on FS1. It was broadcast on the radio by WTAM (1100-AM) and WMMS (100.7-FM).
Next game on Guardians schedule
After their three-game series with the Giants at Progressive Field, the Guardians will then travel to Detroit and Tampa for a seven-game road trip that will lead into the All-Star break.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians vs. San Francisco Giants: Bo Naylor becomes hero with pinch-hit homer
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