News and Notes: The Guardians are Having Fun

The Guardians walked off the Rays in the bottom of the 11th, 7-6.

Here are the highlights:

• Gabriel Arias hit a two-run homer
• Kwan tied the game in the bottom of the 9th with a two-out single and won the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th on an aggressive send from third-base coach, Mike Sarbaugh, good running by Bo Naylor and a lackadaisical effort from Rays centerfielder Jose Siri who was maybe still thinking about his bat flip and home run from earlier off of Nick Sandlin.
• Jose Tena hit a game-tying single in the bottom of the 10th after pinch-running. I love this kid.
• Ramon Laureano made an amazing throw to get a runner out at second, and Andres Gimenez made an insane play on a slow chopper to get an out in the top of the 10th.
• Kwan had 2 hits, Kole Calhoun had 2 hits, Will Brennan had 2 hits, Arias had 2 hits, Bo Naylor had 2 hits and a walk, and Gimenez had a patented hit-by-pitch and an intentional walk.
• The new guys, Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez, each had scoreless innings, as did Enyel De Los Santos and Emmanuel Clase and Sam Hentges only allowed the zombie runner to score.

The Guardians look to try to sweep the series on Sunday, sending Xzavion Curry out to face right-hander Taj Bradley.

The Twins beat the Rangers who are in a huge free fall, so the Guardians remain five games back. There are some rumors on the interwebs that Josh Naylor might be back Sunday. Time will tell.

Around the Minor Leagues

The Clippers won 4-1 behind a 2 for 4 with a homer game from George Valera, a 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and a walk game for Kyle Manzardo, and six innings of one-run ball from Joey Cantillo, who allowed 4 hits, 3 walks and had 5 K’s.

The Rubber Ducks lost 4-2, Juan Brito had another two walks and Aaron Bracho continued his insane breakout season after dropping his switch-hitting approach with a 2-run homer, his 17th of the season.

The Lake County Captains won 8-3 behind a two-run homer from Kahlil Watson, two hits and a walk from catcher Cooper Ingle, two hits from Nate Furman and a typical Steve Hajjar start - 3.2 innings, 5 K’s, 2 hits and 8 walks.

The Hillcats won 6-4 in a game featuring another Wuilfredo Antunez homer as he looks to be finally breaking out, a 4 for 5 game for Angel Zarate, and three walks for Jose Devers. Feels like Antunez, Zarate and Devers would all be good candidates to head up to Lake County for these last two weeks, especially if DeLauter gets to experience some time in Akron.