*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*
A cool feat was on the line, so it had to get done. Owen Miller homered, Jose Ramirez drove in two runs, and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Kansas City Royals with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
After locking up the AL Central title and a postseason spot, the Guardians kept chugging, winning game number 7 in their last 10 contests. They upped the record to 91-70 with just one game to go, and starter Cal Quantrill got the win to go the whole season without getting a losing decision at home.
Quantrill said of his winning ways at home that "I try to keep the boys in the game. I trust that if I come out of a game with the lead that they’ll keep it, and if I don’t, that they’ll score. I don’t have a magic formula. I just compete."
The first 4 innings went scoreless in this one. Nicky Lopez got the Royals on the board in the top of the 5th, hitting a single to score Nate Eaton and make it a 1-0 game. In the bottom of the 5th, Ramirez doubled to the left center field gap, scoring two runs to make it 2-1 Guardians. Andres Gimenez hit an RBI single, and Miller hit a two run homer, making it a 5-1 score.
In the 8th inning, the Royals began to cut into the deficit. With MJ Melendez batting, Eaton was first to cross the plate on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to a 5-2 margin. One inning later, in the 9th, Michael Massey reached base on a fielders choice, scoring Vinnie Pasquantino to make it a 5-3 final score.
Quantrill said that "I know that if I give this team a chance to win, it’s more than likely that they’re going to get it done. It’s not always on schedule. It’s not always first inning, six runs. But I know if I come out of the game and it’s close I have confidence in our hitters. There’s no way that a staff is excited to face us three or four times through the order. Showed again today."
With the win, Quantrill improved his record to 15-5 on the season. He allowed one run on 4 hits, throwing 5 innings in his final start of the regular season. Zach Plesac, Sam Hentges, James Karinchak, and Emmanuel Clase also pitched, with Clase recording his 42nd save of the postseason.
It was Daniel Lynch starting for the Royals, taking the loss while allowing 5 runs on 8 hits over 4 2/3 innings pitched. Collin Snider pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, and Anthony Misiewicz pitched two shutout innings.
Lynch said of his offseason plans that "I think my delivery can get a little bit better. Clean some things up there. I think I really need to improve my slider. I think as the year went on, whatever was fooling them or tricking them started to go away. I was throwing good sliders and they weren’t swinging or they were hitting them. So that needs to improve. I like to keep it simple. I think those are two things that I can attack."
Up next, the Guardians and Royals wrap up the regular season with a Wednesday afternoon contest. Aaron Civale starts for Cleveland, while Jonathan Heasley starts for the Royals.
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