Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Brayan Rocchio's ninth-inning home run, moving into first place by .0004 in the AL Central.
- David Fry and Rocchio both delivered crucial late-inning hits as Cleveland extended its recent resilience against a rising White Sox team.
- Jose Ramirez's continued absence tests the Guardians' offense, but the team aims to build momentum before the trade deadline and a critical August series in Chicago.
July 4 is still a day away, and the All-Star break doesn’t start for another 10 days. Conventional baseball wisdom says it is too early to talk about must-win games or scoreboard watching; the time for those fun activities usually doesn’t start until mid-August.
However, conventional wisdom was out the window on Thursday night at Progressive Field. Though the game-time temperature was 91 degrees, it felt like September with the two teams who are neck and neck at the top of the American League Central standings opening a four-game holiday weekend series.
The game certainly had a pennant race feel as the Cleveland Guardians pulled out a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Brayan Rocchio’s two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The dramatic win pulled the Guardians (46-42) into first place, .0004 percentage points ahead of the White Sox (45-41).
An emotional series-opening win for the Guardians
Judging by the smiles on their faces after the game, the two-time defending division champions clearly thought this was a big win against the upstart White Sox, who've had triple-digit losses each of the last three seasons.
“It's huge,” said David Fry, who hit a pivotal pinch-hit solo home run in the seventh inning that drew the Guardians to 5-4. “There's a lot of season left. We're going to play these guys a lot more times, but usually, at the end of the season, it comes down to one or two games, and if it's going to be between them and us, obviously every game is big, and so anytime we can get a comeback win, it's huge.”
Perhaps Fry’s trusty pocket schedule got lost in the washing machine. The Guardians and White Sox will have only one series remaining after this when they meet for a three-game set in Chicago from Aug. 7-9 — which makes these games even more important.
The White Sox scored three runs in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Yet the Guardians came back to win after losing two out of three to the South Siders last week in Chicago.
“Every time it's a good matchup to face those guys, especially how they are playing right now,” Rocchio said of the White Sox. “They play hard; they play smart. So, it's a lot of fun to face them consistently. We’re fighting to the power end, to the last out, no matter the score. That’s our identity.”
Indeed, despite two late-inning home runs, the Guardians don’t often overpower opponents, as they are 27th in MLB in scoring with an average of 3.99 runs per game. Instead, Cleveland likes to play what they pridefully call Guardsball. It’s a finesse game based on hitters consistently getting on base, then being aggressive once they reach.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt didn’t care exactly how his team won; he was just happy Cleveland took the first game of the series.
“We want to win every series. It doesn't matter who we're playing,’ Vogt said. “And when you win the first game of the series, it puts you in a position to win it. So, obviously, this is a big emotional win for the boys. Obviously, any divisional win is big.”
Yet a win over the White Sox looms larger in the context of the AL Central. These are the only two teams in the division that have a winning record, though the Minnesota Twins (42-46) are just four games behind.
Guardians trying to survive without Jose Ramirez
The Guardians remain in first place despite missing third baseman Jose Ramirez, not only their best player but perhaps the most valuable in the entire league in terms of how much he means to his team. The seven-time All-Star broke the hamate bone in his left hand on June 13 and underwent surgery. Ramirez had the stitches removed Thursday and is hoping to return by the end of the month.
The Guardians went just 10-15 in June but are 2-0 this month as they also beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 on Wednesday. Vogt is hoping he has the kind of guys who can hit well in July while Ramirez continues his rehab. History shows that Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti has trouble trading for bats at the trade deadline, and all indications are that he is again too reluctant to part with much of the organization’s pitching depth this year.
“We’re swinging the bats well so far in July,” Vogt said. “I know it's only two days, but it's a new month, and we just need to keep building momentum and keep learning.”
There would be no better time for the Guardians to keep building momentum than with the White Sox being in town.
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