The Cleveland Guardians recorded a 7-5 come-from-behind victory against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday (box score), ensuring that they would not slide to second place in the American League Central for the first time since April 13. The Guardians had previously seen their streak of uncontested days atop the division snapped on Tuesday with their third consecutive loss against the Royals.
Kansas City jumped ahead early on Wednesday, with Michael Massey, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Bobby Witt Jr. each delivering solo home runs over the course of the first three innings to build a 3-1 advantage. The Royals later tacked on thanks to timely hits from Adam Frazier and Maikel Garcia to establish a 5-2 edge through the sixth.
The Guardians would rally in the seventh, as the Royals asked for one inning too many from starter Michael Wacha. Bo Naylor provided a solo home run to dash the lead to 5-3. From there, the Guardians saw Josh Naylor, Will Brennan, and Jhonkensy Noel drive in runs to take a 6-5 lead into the eighth inning. Andrés Giménez lifted a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to make it 7-5.
Cleveland’s typically excellent bullpen managed four shutout innings in relief of starter Tanner Bibbee, who surrendered five runs (including on three home runs) in five frames. Tim Herrin recorded two outs; Eli Morgan four; and Hunter Gaddis and closer Emmanuel Clase three apiece, with Clase also tying Cody Allen for the most saves in franchise history, at 149. (Our Matt Snyder recently looked at Clase’s chances of making noise in the American League Cy Young Award race.)
The Royals will now head to Houston to take on the Astros as part of a four-game set this weekend. They’ll then revisit their rivalry with these same Guardians in Kansas City, completing the season series with three games to open up next week. It’s worth noting that the Royals have clinched the season series against the Guardians, meaning that they possess the advantage in the event of a tie atop the division.
The Guardians, for their part, will have Thursday off before resuming their season on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
