The magic number was 3 for the Guardians to get into the playoffs.
Cleveland got on the board early on in the top of the second. Angel Martínez doubled to left and scored on a single from David Fry.
Travis Bazzana reached on a single and Austin Hedges a walk to load the bases. Brayan Rocchio grounded into a double play, but scored David Fry in the process.
The pitching staff had their work cut out for them. Parker Messick had a decent start, but a 12-pitch at bat in the bottom of the fourth worked his
pitch count too high to allow for six innings from the rookie. Messick ended the night having gone 5.0 innings, only allowing one run on five hits and a walk. Messick threw 96 pitches and struck out five batters.
Tim Herrin and Craig Yoho had to join forces to get out of the sixth inning with both pitchers going scoreless. Erik Sabrowski pitched the seventh, walking one and striking out three. Hunter Gaddis came on in the eighth and gave up a lead off home run to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, Cleveland took advantage of a Boston pitching mistake. Chase DeLauter was hit by pitch to lead off the inning. Jo Adell singled to right, putting runners on the corner. Nathaniel Lowe, who came in for Angel Martínez in the seventh, hit a perfect sac fly to the wall, easily scoring DeLauter.
Cade Smith came on in the bottom of the ninth looking for his 40th save of the season. Cade got the quick strikeout, but walked the pinch-hitter Jarren Duran. A ground out from the next batter put the tying run in scoring position. Cade induced another groundout, but Nathaniel Lowe slipped at the worst possible moment. What surely would have been the game tying run was spoiled by the rookie Angel Genao. Genao came on in the eighth as a defensive replacement for Travis Bazzana at second. Genao backed up Lowe perfectly and sprinted to tag first base to get the final out of the game.
The magic number is down to two to clinch the playoffs and could be down to one if the Astros lose tonight in Seattle. The Royals rolled over for the White Sox, leaving the division in the same place it was to start the day.
