Bazzana Walks Cleveland Off in the 10th, 4-3
Travis Bazzana singled to center in the 10th inning to score Rocchio and hand Cleveland a 4-3 win over Detroit, swinging the home win probability from 61% to 100% in a single at-bat. The same bat that tied the game with a two-run homer in the 8th delivered the knockout blow two innings later.
Detroit looked like it had this one locked up early. Lee singled to center in the third to score McKinstry, then McGonigle doubled to right to score Torres, and suddenly the Tigers were up 2-0 before Cleveland's crowd had settled in. The lead grew to 3-0 in the fifth when Valencia singled to right, scoring Torres again — Gleyber Torres crossing the plate twice in the first five innings, doing the quiet work that kept Detroit's offense humming against Foster Griffin. Griffin gave up 8 hits and 3 earned runs across 6 innings, and for most of the night, that looked like it might be enough of a problem to sink Cleveland.
Then the Guardians started chipping. Nathaniel Lowe doubled to center in the sixth to score Ramírez, cutting it to 3-1. That run looks modest in hindsight, but it appears to have been the first crack in Detroit's composure. The real damage came in the eighth, when Bazzana sent a 389-foot shot to right center, scoring Kwan and tying the game at 3. Just like that, everything Detroit had built over seven innings was gone. Daniel Espino had already thrown 2 scoreless innings of relief by that point — 3 strikeouts, no walks, 1 hit — and Hunter Gaddis followed with 2 more perfect innings, 2 strikeouts, nothing through. The story of the night was Cleveland's bullpen quietly strangling Detroit's offense while the offense found its footing.
The 10th inning was brief and decisive. Bazzana came up with Rocchio on base and singled to center, and that was it — win probability swung from 61% to 100% in one swing of the bat. Bazzana finished 2-for-3 with a homer, 3 RBI, and a run scored. For Detroit, Andrew Sears was actually solid — 5.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 4 strikeouts — and McGonigle went 2-for-5 with an RBI in a losing effort. The Tigers put 8 hits on the board against Griffin and still lost. That's the kind of night that stings. Cleveland's bullpen made sure one bad inning from their starter didn't matter, and Bazzana made sure the offense showed up when it had to.