The Big Hit
Brayan Rocchio has done it again for the Cleveland Guardians. The shortstop stepped up with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning on Tuesday night. He hit a high, 100 mph fastball from Chicago White Sox reliever Grant Taylor down the left field line.
The hit allowed Daniel Schneemann and David Fry to score, turning a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 victory for Cleveland. Chicago rookie Sam Antonacci took a poor route to the ball, which fell just out of his reach. Antonacci later admitted his mistake, saying he has to clean it up because you cannot make those types of routes in that position in the big leagues.
"I didn't try to do something special in that moment," Rocchio said. "I just tried to put the bat to the ball and see what happens."
Rocchio's Historic Run
This was Rocchio's fourth walk off hit of the season, which is the best in the major leagues. All four of his walk offs have come against American League Central opponents. Two of them have now come against Grant Taylor. Rocchio is the first player since 1930 to have multiple come from behind walk off hits against the same pitcher in a single season.
His teammate Travis Bazzana praised his calm approach, noting that Rocchio thrives in those moments and stays completely in control.
Guardians fans were chanting Rocchio's name as he walked up to the plate. Rocchio said the chants are the best thing in his life and he did not want to disappoint the crowd.
The Division Race Heats Up
The win is massive for Cleveland's postseason hopes. The Guardians are now just half a game behind the first place White Sox. The two teams will play their final regular season series game on Wednesday.
Last year, Cleveland came from 11 games back in September to overtake the Detroit Tigers for the division title. This year, they were six games behind the White Sox a month ago but have since closed the gap. Since Chicago holds the tiebreaker, Cleveland must finish ahead of them to win the division.
Cleveland closer Cade Smith compared the atmosphere to last September, saying they are basically playing playoff games before the regular season ends.
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