CLEVELAND — After stealing the opener on Brayan Rocchio's dramatic walk-off home run, the Cleveland Guardians weren't finished.
Just a few hours later, they rallied again. This time, Travis Bazzana tied the game with a two-run home run in the eighth inning before delivering the game-winning RBI single in the 10th as the Guardians completed a doubleheader sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-3 victory Friday night in front of 23,562 fans at Progressive Field.
Detroit controlled much of the evening behind an impressive major league debut from left-hander Andrew Sears.
The rookie limited Cleveland's offense through 5? innings, allowing just one run while repeatedly working out of trouble. The Tigers built a 3-1 lead behind timely hitting and appeared poised to salvage a split of the doubleheader.
The Guardians, however, had other plans. After Foster Griffin battled through 5? innings to keep Cleveland within striking distance, Daniel Espino and Hunter Gaddis combined to shut out Detroit over the final 4? innings, giving the offense a chance to rally late. Gaddis earned the victory after another scoreless inning in the 10th.
That rally finally arrived in the bottom of the eighth, beginning when Steven Kwan worked a leadoff walk, bringing Bazzana to the plate. The rookie second baseman jumped on a fastball from Jacob Waguespack and launched a game-tying two-run home run into the right-center field seats, sending the faithful into a frenzy and erasing Detroit's two-run advantage.
Neither club scored in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.
After Gaddis stranded Detroit's automatic runner in the top of the 10th, the Guardians wasted little time ending it. With the winning run in scoring position, Bazzana lined a single to bring home the decisive run, completing Cleveland's second walk-off victory of the day.
The sweep pushed the Guardians to 72-70, extending their winning streak to three games while strengthening their position in the American League playoff race. Perhaps more importantly, Cleveland showed once again that it has become one of baseball's toughest teams to put away, rallying from deficits in both games of the doubleheader.
What's Next: The Guardians continue their four-game series against the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field with Parker Messick scheduled to take the mound for Cleveland.