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'You could hear a pin drop': The Guardians beat the Twins on a Will Brennan home run
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- 'You could hear a pin drop': The Guardians beat the Twins on a Will Brennan home run
CLEVELAND — They say you never know what you might see at the ballpark. And to that extent, the Guardians' bizarre, backward, blunder-filled route to sweeping the Minnesota Twins was an all-timer .
It was nearly the case the Guardians couldn't have made any more crucial mistakes during a wild ninth inning in Sunday's game against the Twins . But, somehow, they proverbially tripped, stumbled and fell into a walk-off win that ended with Will Brennan 's celebratory trip around the bases.
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The game ended with a ball sailing just over the right-field wall and a momentous roar from the crowd. Only moments before, the 25-plus-thousand at Progressive Field were sent into a stunned silence.
Cleveland Guardians' Will Brennan (17) celebrates after hitting a walk-off three-run home run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday in Cleveland.
The Guardians entered the ninth inning holding a 2-1 lead. With Emmanuel Clase walking to the mound, the game was well in hand, considering he's been one of baseball's best closers, having allowed just one earned run this season.
With one out remaining before the Guardians could close the door on the Twins, though, a series of defensive miscues ensued that needed "Yakety Sax" as its soundtrack.
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Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers was hit by a pitch to put the potential tying run on base, and Byron Buxton entered the game as a pinch-runner.
Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) dives for a ball hit by Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers (not pictured) during the fourth inning Sunday at Progressive Field.
Willi Castro lined a ball up the middle that was fielded by Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio . Instead of simply throwing to first base, Rocchio tried to beat Buxton to second base in a foot race. Buxton won, barely, to extend the game and keep the Twins alive.
Alex Kirilloff followed by hitting ground ball to Josh Naylor near first base. Naylor scooped it up and flipped it to Clase, who was running to first. Somehow, Clase dropped the ball, allowing Kirilloff to be safe and again giving the Twins an extra life.
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But that wasn't the end of the play. Naylor picked up the ball and seemed to catch Buxton in a pickle between third base and home plate. But, instead of throwing home, likely leading to a run down and the end of the game, Naylor threw to third base, allowing Buxton to score and tie it 2-2.
Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase (48) drops the throw from first baseman Josh Naylor (not pictured) during the ninth inning Sunday against the Minnesota Twins in Cleveland.
"And even when we saw the replay [of the Rocchio play], I was like, 'I don't know if there's enough there to overturn it,'" Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "It was a play where you can go to first, you can go foot race. It's his call. Obviously it didn't work in our favor.
"But then [the Naylor and Clase play] ... just dropped the ball and chaos was ensuing and we made a mistake and they took advantage."
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The Guardians should have recorded five outs by that point, but somehow only had two, and no longer had the lead. A home crowd that already had one foot out the door and headed for their cars quietly sat back down.
"Before that, I mean, I just told David Fry , you could hear a pin drop in the park after that ninth inning," Brennan said. "[It was] just a roller coaster."
The miscues continued with the Guardians at the plate, now needing to win it with their bats.
Andres Gimenez walked to reach base as the potential winning run. After a pitch trickled to the backstop with two outs, Gimenez took second base and rounded toward third, but he was caught midway between the bases. He fell and was suddenly caught in a pickle.
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Gimenez hesitated, shifting back and forth between each base before bolting for second base. In a second bang-bang play within a few minutes right at that spot on the diamond, Gimenez was called out, and the inning appeared to be over until a crew chief review overturned the call, giving the Guardians new life.
Naylor was intentionally walked with first base now open, which brought up Brennan. It was fitting for Brennan to follow Naylor, as the latter had previously coached the former on how to handle such a situation.
"So it's just kind of been that situation all year where I haven't taken advantage of it, and I kind of took it personal," Brennan said, speaking to the Twins walking Naylor to pitch to him instead. "That's what Nayls always tells me to do, and it paid off."
The next pitch was launched for a three-run, walk-off home run that just barely cleared the wall in right field. A seemingly confused crowd erupted while trying to process the events of a wild 15-minute stretch.
Cleveland Guardians' Will Brennan, middle, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off three-run home run during the ninth inning Sunday against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field.
And somehow, someway, after three defensive miscues and a baserunning mistake, the Guardians still ended the day celebrating, throwing water on each other and mobbing Brennan as he crossed home plate.
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It was the baseball equivalent of showing your work on a math test, having all of it be incorrect and somehow still finding the right answer.
"[We felt like] we're going to walk 'em off. We kind of knew that that was going to happen," Brennan said. "We really believe in each other and we're here to pick each other up. That's what teammates do."
The Guardians are now 30-17. They're in first place. This hectic win is one about which all they can do is shrug their shoulders.
For this one, the Guardians will tell you that there is some beauty hidden in ugly victories.
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"This group loves each other and we've won enough games now coming from behind, down early, lead the whole way, where we believe we can win, and that's what's powerful," said Vogt, who in his first year as manager has helped the Guardians curate a reputation of a team that never counts itself out.
"They love each other and they know that we can get it done. And the belief didn't stop even after the chaotic top of the ninth. ... [Gimenez] worked a great walk and Will, I mean, that was beautiful."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians beat Minnesota Twins on Will Brennan home run
