Kwan's Ninth-Inning Double Breaks LAA's Back, CLE Wins 4-3
Cleveland erased a three-run deficit and stole a 4-3 win in Anaheim on August 26, completing the comeback entirely in the final two innings. The decisive blow was Steven Kwan's ground rule double in the ninth, a hit that swung the home win probability from 73% to 28% — a 45-point collapse for the Angels in a single at-bat.
The Angels looked in complete control through four innings, building a 3-0 lead that felt comfortable given how Joey Cantillo was pitching. Cantillo's command was a genuine problem — he issued 7 walks across 6.0 innings — but he limited the damage to 2 earned runs, and the Angels' early runs came with some help. In the first, a throwing error by Cantillo allowed Neto to score on an infield single. The second inning piled on: Neto was hit by a pitch to force in a run, then a sacrifice fly made it 3-0. Grayson Rodriguez, meanwhile, was doing his job on the other side, holding Cleveland to nothing through the first four frames on 7 hits but just 1 earned run allowed over 5.2 innings.
Cleveland began chipping away in the fifth when Travis Bazzana hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Brayan Rocchio to make it 3-1. That's where it sat for three more innings — a two-run game that looked like it might stay that way. Then the eighth changed the texture of the night. Nathaniel Lowe singled to left, scoring Bazzana to cut the deficit to one. Suddenly the Angels' bullpen had a problem, and Cleveland had a pulse.
The ninth is where this game will be remembered. Rocchio reached and scored the tying run when Kwan laced a ground rule double to left, with Halpin crossing the plate and Rocchio advancing to third. That hit — the one that swung LAA's win probability from 73% to 28% — set the table perfectly. Bazzana then delivered his second sacrifice fly of the night, this one to right, scoring Rocchio for the 4-3 lead. Cleveland's bullpen locked it down from there. The story of the night was Bazzana's quiet efficiency: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, and both of his RBI came on sacrifice flies in the game's two most critical moments. Rocchio scored twice and was on base for both of those decisive plays. Lowe added 2-for-3 with an RBI. This looks like a Cleveland team that simply refused to let a bad start from its pitcher cost them a game they had the lineup to win.