Nick Sandlin entered the game at 8-8 in the bottom of the 9th, and on his third pitch, he sadly hung a ball right in the middle, and Wander Franco did not miss hitting a walk-off home run for Tampa.
Myles Straw finally hit a home run for the first time in 298 games, and he hit a home run to end the drought.
The Guardians never got a hit in the 9th but could score three runs. After back-to-back walks and hit-by-pitch to load the bases, three wild pitches in the 9th inning from Tampa made it a tied game 8-8.
In the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night, Wander Franco kicked things off with a home run, and the Tampa Bay Rays, who were leading in the wild-card race, secured a 9-8 victory over the Cleveland Guardians following a chaotic bullpen performance in the top of the inning.
Franco’s blast to the right field came off Nick Sandlin (5-5).
Cleveland managed to tie the game at 8 in the ninth inning, as all three runs crossed the plate due to wild pitches.
The Guardians loaded the bases with no outs through a combination of walks and a hit batter against closer Pete Fairbanks. While the right-hander struck out Oscar Gonzalez, he also let a run score due to a wild pitch before striking out Brayan Rocchio.
Fairbanks allowed another run through a wild pitch and walked Bo Naylor before being substituted with Robert Stephenson (2-4), who then threw the third wild pitch of the inning, resulting in the tying run.
Isaac Paredes gave the Rays a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning with his hit, which marked the end of Cleveland starter Xzavion Curry’s outing.
In the seventh inning, the Rays added three more runs, taking an 8-4 lead after Daniel Norris loaded the bases with three walks and one out. A pair of runs scored when second baseman Andrés Giménez committed an error while misplaying a potential inning-ending double-play ground ball hit by Randy Arozarena.
Myles Straw hit his first home run since August 26, 2021, off Jason Adam in the eighth inning for the Guardians.
Former Cleveland player Aaron Civale pitched for five innings for the Rays, conceding two runs and seven hits. Although he faced difficulties in all of his innings, he limited the Guardians to just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring positions. Civale, who was acquired by Tampa Bay from Cleveland on July 30th, had lost his first appearance with the Rays the previous Saturday against Detroit after allowing three runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Xzavion Curry allowed five runs and six hits in his five-plus innings during his fifth start and 30th appearance of the season.
Straw and Giménez managed RBI singles off Jake Diekman as the Guardians took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning.
Curry’s strong start saw him retire his first seven batters before the Rays responded with three runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead. Yandy Díaz contributed with an RBI double, and Wander Franco brought in two more runs with a single.
Cleveland narrowed the gap to 3-2 in the fourth inning through Steven Kwan’s triple. The Guardians initially took a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to Ramón Laureano’s RBI single.
Cal Quantrill (right shoulder inflammation) will make his next minor league start with Double-A Akron on Tuesday. … 1B Josh Naylor (oblique strain) has resumed taking grounders. … INF Tyler Freeman (right shoulder strain) could return on Tuesday.
Up Next
Saturday 8/12 4:10 PM EST – Game 2 of Weekend Series at Tampa Bay Rays
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