Josh Naylor had three hits and four RBIs before leaving late with an injury, Jhonkensy Noel and Andres Gimenez hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 10-8 on Friday.
Cleveland blew a 4-0 lead and trailed 6-4 in the fifth inning.
Facing Pittsburgh reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (2-5), Jose Ramirez singled, stole second and scored on Naylor’s one-out single.
Noel followed with a no-doubt drive into the left field seats for his 13th homer and a 7-6 Cleveland lead. Right behind, Gimenez lined a drive over the right field wall, his sixth.
Naylor, though, appeared to injure his ankle running to first on his RBI hit during Cleveland’s two-run eighth. Naylor had to be helped off the field, putting a damper on an otherwise positive evening for the Guardians, who earned a second straight win.
Emmanuel Clase allowed a run in the ninth inning but still recorded his 40th save of the season, and record 150th for Cleveland. Cody Allen had 149 saves for the franchise from 2012-18.
Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer, Andrew McCutchen also went deep and Oneil Cruz and McCutchen each had three RBIs for the Pirates, who have allowed 51 runs during their four-game losing streak.
Cleveland wasted no time getting to Pittsburgh starter Bailey Falter, who yielded four runs and seven hits in four innings. Falter fanned two and walked one.
Naylor’s two-out, two-run double off that bounced off the left field wall opened the scoring in the first.
The Guardians added it two more in the fourth. Austin Hedges’ well-placed bunt toward first base scored a runner from third, and Steven Kwan followed with an RBI single to center.
Pittsburgh, though, got Guardians starter Ben Lively in the fifth, erasing the 4-0 deficit with a six-run outburst. With the bases loaded, Cruz chopped a ball past the right side of the Cleveland infield to score two. The Pirates tied it on McCutchen’s two-run double.
Tellez then put Pittsburgh up 6-4 with his two-run shot to right-center. However, the Pirates’ advantage was short-lived after the Guardians pulled ahead for good in the bottom of the frame.
Cleveland’s Pedro Avila (5-1) got the last two outs in the top of the fifth and recorded the win.
–Field Level Media