CHICAGO — Every day for nearly a week now, Mike Barnett, the Guardians’ replay coordinator and the victim of most of Terry Francona’s pranks, has proudly donned a red T-shirt displaying his own face.
A few other members of the organization have sported the shirt in recent days, but Barnett has made it a habit, citing the team’s performance since the traveling secretary handed them out. On the back of the shirt reads a Barnett quote: “This ain’t Nintendo.”
That’s the longtime coach’s way of saying nothing comes easy, especially something worth hard work. The Guardians made a decisive move in the race for AL Central supremacy. It didn’t come easy: They waited out another rain delay, pestered a Cy Young candidate, stormed back from a late-inning deficit, survived a rare blown save and a blatant missed call at home plate, and ambushed opposing pitchers with bloops and slaps and hits to the gaps.
Not even the infamous “Gray Cloud” could prevent them from capturing a critical win that moved them one giant step toward a division title. Francona’s longtime friend and former college teammate Bill Kinneberg attended the series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field. He sat on a bench at the visitors dugout as storm clouds began to form. Francona blamed his buddy. The manager also wondered whether Kinneberg’s presence might serve as some sort of reverse jinx against Dylan Cease, whose slider had so much zip in his last start against Cleveland that “you could hear it,” Francona said.
Cease ultimately became a footnote in Cleveland’s 11-inning victory, in large part because Aaron CivaleHe made his third start in three weeks and matched his proficiency. Civale said that he is fondly recollected starting against the White SoxLast September, Chicago whipped him for four home runs in just 2/3 innings.
“It’s been in the back of my mind for a while,” Civale said.
With 14 games remaining the Guardians hold a five game lead over White Sox. With the win Tuesday, they also secured the tiebreaker against Chicago, so it’s really a six-game lead. The Guardians will advance to the playoffs if the clubs tie after Game 162.
AL Central standings
1. Guardians (81-67)
2. White Sox (76-72) – Five games backCleveland has won the tiebreaker. There are now six games left to play. https://t.co/dMC0W0i6YD
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) September 21, 2022
It was appropriate that the Guardians waited to announce the win until after midnight ET. They don’t care if anyone is awake or asleep, they continue to prove people wrong. Despite this, Elvis Andrus’ claims that Cleveland would “crumble,” the Guardians have done the opposite, saving their best baseball for their September meetings with the teams clumsily chasing them in the standings.
Enyel De Los Santos, the team’s unheralded, pre-lockout addition (on a minor-league deal), tossed a scoreless ninth to preserve the tie. This season, he has a 3.10 ERA and 2.81 FIP with more than one strikeout per inning.
Steven KwanThe rookie, who had no expectations of making the Opening Day roster six months ago, provided four more hits from the leadoff position. He’s the catalyst for Cleveland’s lineup, and when the team is employing its “Death by 1,000 Paper Cuts” approach, he’s almost always involved.
Myles Straw, who has floundered at the plate since early May, entered Tuesday’s game with a .389 average over the previous two weeks. To jump-start the offensive assault, he added a timely two-run run double in the 11th. Cleveland’s five runs in the 11th were the club’s most in that inning in 14 years.
“I figured it wouldn’t be horrible all year long, so I thought this would be a good time to turn it around,” Straw said.
Straw’s third run of the 11th was scored by Straw Amed Rosario was standing on deck, so he didn’t need to travel far to praise his teammate. However, he was there an inning earlier when Josh NaylorRosario ran out of the visitors’ dugout and across the track to give Rosario the go-ahead. Naylor, who was being used as a pinch runner in the race, returned to the bench. He reminded South Side residents of how he did this season.
This season, the Guardians have improved their record in extra-inning affairs by 12-4
“I feel like we thrive on (close games),” Straw said.
FanGraphs’ projection model now gives Cleveland a 96.3 percent chance of capturing the division crown. The Guardians Triston McKenzie Shane BieberThey are the anchors of the rotation and will pitch the next two nights at Chicago.
“It’s a lot of good baseball happening,” Kwan said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
To propel themselves towards October, The Guardians won 13 of their 16 previous games. Their dramatic triumph Tuesday was their most profound entry in the win column yet, even if it didn’t come easy.
“That’s playoff baseball right there,” Straw said. “Nothing’s going to be easy, so you try to win those games however you can.”
(Photo of Steven Kwan and Amed Rossario celebrating the win by Matt Marton / USA Today
