Bryan Shaw saves fans from extra innings

Bryan Shaw did what Bryan Shaw does, securing a 6-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals with a miserable outing that we will all hopefully be able to look back on fondly as one of his final appearances in a Cleveland uniform. He also tied Cody Allen for the club record in relief appearances (456), proving that effectiveness is not necessary to sustain a career.

Shaw took the mound in the eighth inning with one out and a runner on first inherited from Blake Parker. He moved to immediately rectify the situation, promptly surrendering an RBI triple to Nicky Lopez to give the Royals the lead. Sensing that a one-run lead may be surmountable, Shaw allowed Lopez to score from third on a wild pitch for an insurance run.

Sure enough, the Guardians went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning.

Kansas City starting pitcher Brady Singer made a brief but eventful appearance in the first inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Myles Straw, walked Amed Rosario, surrendered a single to Jose Ramirez, and then allowed two runs to score on an RBI single to right-center by Franmil Reyes. Harold Ramirez proceeded to ground into a double play that brought in another run. After delivering four pitches to Bradley Zimmer, Singer was pulled from the game by manager Mike Matheny. Whit Merrifield seemed to have alerted Matheny and the trainer that something was amiss, prompting a visit to the mound that ended Singer’s night.

Unfortunately, the Guardians seemed to take Singer’s exit as their cue to stop trying to score runs. Until the eighth inning, Kansas City trotted out four different relievers and Cleveland scattered four hits and three walks against them as the Royals scored four unanswered runs. But Oscar Mercado singled with one out in the eighth inning and then came around to score on an RBI double from Yu Chang to even the score. Roberto Perez and Owen Miller left Chang stranded at second.

Meanwhile, Aaron Civale proved vulnerable to the long ball again, giving up a two-run home run to Andrew Bentinendi in the bottom of the first inning to cut the lead to 3-2. Carlos Santana tied it up in the fourth with a sac fly to score Salvador Perez, who had led off the inning with a double. Perez, who also scored on Benintendi’s first inning home run after drawing a walk, delivered the go-ahead run with a solo shot off Civale in the sixth inning.

Civale only lasted 5.1 innings in his final start, giving up four hits, one walk, and four earned runs. He struck out three, with a high fastball getting him in trouble against Bentinendi and a splitter right down Main Street teeing up Perez’s go-ahead home run.