The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 in the 15th inning in Game 2 on Saturday, thanks to a late-game homer by rookie outfielder Oscar Gonzalez. With the victory, Cleveland completed a 2-0 sweep of the AL Wildcard Series.
Gonzalez ended this four-hour 57-minute game, which was the longest scoreless matchup in postseason history.
OSCAR GONZALEZ WALK-OFF HOMER IN THE 15th! #POSTSEASON pic.twitter.com/bVpy55LKXz
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2022
The 15th-inning game between the Guardians and the Rays surpasses the previous record of the 2020 NL Wild Card Series opener when the Atlanta Braves forced the Cincinnati Reds to play 13 innings. Both teams combined for a postseason record of 39 strikeouts, 20 numbers tallied by the Rays’ batters.
Gonzalez hit the 432nd pitch of the game thrown by the Rays’ pitcher Corey Kluber, hitting the cutter over the wall in the left-centerfield area. He rounded the bases, and his teammates gathered and greeted him at the plate.
“There’s no way to describe it,” said Gonzalez. “It was such an exciting moment that it’s hard for me to put into words.”
Francona ‘happy’ with Gonzalez’s homer
Gonzalez was among 17 expected Cleveland players to play their debut this season. According to sources, with his appearance in this game, he was one of the players that fit the team’s needs ahead of the other players.
Referring to Gonzalez’s clutch performance, the Guardians’ manager Terry Francona revealed that he was happy about it.
“I don’t think by that point we cared,” Francona said. “It could have been one of the old guys. We didn’t care. We’re not biased. I was happy that he hit it.”
Francona also applauded the Guardians All-Star third baseman José Ramírez’s performance in keeping the game scoreless with his defense in the 12th. He caught the ball hit by the Rays’ baseman Manuel Margot backhandedly and quickly threw it over the bases.
“He kind of willed himself there to make that play,” Francona said of Ramírez.
“I don’t know if it’s a game-saving, it might be a year-saving play. They score on that play and the way things were going we weren’t throwing crooked numbers up.”
The Rays are on their fourth straight postseason appearance. Overall, they finished with seven straight losses, and only scored one run in the series. They also recorded low-hitting games with only averaging .115 (9 out of 78) and one extra-base hit.
“I saw guys trying to do too much,” Tampa Bay’s manager Kevin Cash said. “We were looking for the three-run homer with nobody on base. When you take that mindset against good pitchers, they can kind of sit you down.”
Guardians’ president discusses facing Yankees
In their last matchup against the Yankees in April, the Guardians got swept by Aaron Judge. However, according to sources, the Guardians are expected to return as a different team on their upcoming visit to New York.
The Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said that he was not describing his team’s postseason clash against the Yankees as similar to the “David vs. Goliath” storyline.
“We haven’t gotten caught up with that and what the external narrative has been around our team,” Antonetti said. “These guys have written their own story.
“The Yankees are obviously a great team and we know we have our work cut out for us, but these guys embrace the challenge.”
Cleveland will play their first game against the Yankees on October 11.