Veterans fuel 11-inning victory for MLB’s youngest team
TORONTO — Credit this one to the scrappy veterans.
The Guardians refused to remain down in Sunday afternoon’s 11-inning marathon in opposition to the Blue Jays, twice getting back from a deficit to take the sequence finale, 10-7, at Rogers Centre.
“That’s the [spirit] that this team has,” stated Ramón Laureano. “We keep grinding. Everybody is a grinder, and we have that in our blood. I can see it here, and that’s what you guys just saw.”
It began and ended with the lineup’s tenured bats.
Kole Calhoun sparked the Guardians’ four-run prime of the eleventh with a two-run double to interrupt the 6-6 tie — the final of three hits on the day for the newly transformed first baseman. Laureano, who had a three-hit sport of his personal, all however sealed the win with a two-run homer to left-center subject that left his bat at 104.4 mph.
Closer Emmanuel Clase shut the door on the opposite finish, pitching 1 2/3 frames with two strikeouts, one hit, one stroll and an unearned run.
It was the kind of gritty win that might carry momentum because the Guardians head to Minnesota for a vital three-game set. Cleveland stays six video games again of the Twins for the American League Central lead, however a sequence win may put the Guards in a greater place getting into the ultimate month of the common season.
“Huge game,” Calhoun stated of the comeback win in Toronto. “Hopefully we can use that momentum as we roll into the biggest series of the year for us right now. That’s a game that you can definitely build on.”
It’s additionally one which carries worthwhile classes for the children within the Guardians’ lineup, who additionally contributed a lot to the sequence win in Toronto.
The 24-year-old Andrés Giménez headlined that group on Sunday, hitting a clutch two-run double within the eighth to attain Laureano and Calhoun and briefly give the Guardians a one-run lead. The Blue Jays tied it within the house half of the inning on Daulton Varsho’s RBI single off of Trevor Stephan. Neither staff scored once more till the eleventh.
“Huge win,” stated Giménez. “We have a big series coming up against Minnesota. Those three games are going to be important for us, so winning today was huge.”
What’s it like having game-changing veterans comparable to Laureano and Calhoun on their facet?
“We’re a young team, so having those kinds of leaders in the clubhouse and in the game is huge for us young guys,” stated Giménez. “We can learn from them. From every experience, every at-bat that they have, we can learn from them.”
Though a man like José Ramírez — who hit a game-tying two-run homer for his twenty first of the season within the third inning — has been imparting his information on this younger lineup for some time, Laureano and Calhoun are newcomers.
The Guardians claimed Laureano off waivers from the A’s on Aug. 7, whereas Calhoun joined Cleveland by way of an Aug. 4 commerce with the Dodgers after showing in 35 Triple-A video games for the group.
Since then, Laureano has hit .255 with an .807 OPS and 9 RBIs over 16 video games. Calhoun, in the meantime, owns a .288 common with 11 RBIs over 17 contests — all whereas holding his personal at first base. That was evident within the ninth, when Calhoun fielded a bunt from Cavan Biggio with the sport tied at 6 and a runner on second, sending a laser to 3rd base to nab the lead runner.
“I don’t really know what I’m doing over there,” Calhoun stated jokingly. “It came my way and I thought I had a shot at third, and I took a chance. It worked out. I don’t have a lot of reps in bunt situations. To be on a stage like this and have it come [my way], it just kind of worked out.”
With a steep climb forward of their seek for a postseason spot, these are greater than feel-good tales for the Guardians.
“I’ve said it multiple times, because I mean it: Calhoun is … he’s a baseball player,” stated supervisor Terry Francona. “ … He’s on the market day-after-day taking floor balls, and he’s a health club rat. And we’re fortunate to have Laureano chipping in and doing a little issues, too.
“And they’ve been hitting in the middle of the order. They’ve done a really good job.”
