Amed Rosario delivered a two-out RBI single in the 11th inning as the Cleveland Guardians opened a three-game series against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks with a 6-5 victory on Monday.
Will Benson began the inning as the automatic runner at second base, and he moved to third on Austin Hedges’ sacrifice bunt. After Steven Kwon drew a two-out walk, Rosario singled home the winning run against Mark Melancon (3-10) with a line drive to right field.
Daulton Varsho and Christian Walker homered for Arizona, which used nine pitchers in its first game at Cleveland since 2014.
The Diamondbacks moved ahead in the top of the 10th inning when Josh Rojas scored from third on Ketel Marte’s double-play grounder. Cleveland pulled even in the bottom half on Andres Gimenez’s RBI single.
Rosario and Owen Miller each hit two-run homers for Cleveland, which improved to 8-2 in extra innings this season. Andres Gimenez set career highs with four hits and three stolen bases, while Rosario had three hits and three RBIs.
Sam Hentges (3-2) pitched a scoreless 11th inning for Cleveland, which trailed early after Varsho belted a one-out solo homer in the second against Cal Quantrill.
Cleveland answered in the bottom of the second with Miller’s two-run homer against Zach Davies, who came off the injured list to make his first start since June 25. Davies had been sidelined due to a shoulder injury.
The Guardians moved ahead 4-1 in the third when Kwan drew a leadoff walk and Rosario followed with a two-run homer to left field. Kwan, a rookie, went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.
Kyle Nelson then replaced Davies, who allowed four runs on three hits with two walks and one strikeout over two-plus innings.
The home run outburst continued in the fourth inning. Arizona’s Alek Thomas hit a leadoff single, Marte was hit by a pitch, and Walker’s three-run homer tied the game.
Quantrill allowed four runs and six hits in six innings, struck out four and walked one.
Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Joe Mantiply retired Gimenez on a liner to shortstop Geraldo Perdomo to escape the jam.
–Field Level Media