CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio became the sixth player in MLB history to hit a grand slam and a walk-off home run in the same game on Friday, leading the team to a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tigers.
He summed up his accomplishment in one word: “Impressive.”
Rocchio homered leading off the ninth inning after connecting on a tying grand slam in the fourth, rallying Cleveland to a win in the first game of a split doubleheader.
The Guardians scored the final six runs of the game.
The 25-year-old Venezuelan joined George Kelly of the New York Giants (June 14, 1924); Hank Greenberg of Detroit (Aug. 19, 1938); Minnie Minoso of the Chicago White Sox (April 19, 1960); Otto Velez of the Toronto Blue Jays (May 4, 1980); and Jack Clark of the Boston Red Sox (July 31, 1991) in the exclusive club.
Kelly, Greenberg and Minoso are Hall of Famers. Rocchio is in his fourth season, all with the Guardians, who are battling for their third consecutive postseason berth.
“What a cool day for him,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “Every season has a different story, but he’s been really consistent with his work and with his effort all along.”
As if the feat wasn’t impressive enough, Rocchio accomplished it by homering from both sides of the plate. His grand slam to right field off Keider Montero was batting left-handed, while his walk-off homer to left against Drew Sommers came as a righty.
“First time in my life, yeah,” Rocchio said, smiling. “I’ve never done that before.”
Rocchio’s slam traveled 366 feet, prompting an excited Austin Hedges to jump on Nathaniel Lowe’s back on the top step of the Guardians dugout. The entire team leaped in the air while meeting him at home plate following his 405-foot game-ending shot.
Cleveland maintained its hold on the last American League wild-card spot with the comeback victory.
“Everything that we do is for the team, to help the team make the playoffs,” said Rocchio, who is batting .247 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs in 134 games. “We’re going to play from the first out to the last out.”
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