Angels lose at Cleveland as bullpen gives up six runs in eighth-inning collapse
There was such little belief the Cleveland Guardians could rally that Slider, the team’s fuzzy mascot, had stripped off his costume to go home.
And then it happened.
Josh Naylor hit a three-run homer and Cleveland erupted for six runs in the eighth inning to storm back and stun the Angels 8-6 on Saturday night, a victory the Guardians hope can jump-start their season.
“We needed it,” starter Cal Quantrill said. “We needed to earn one, earn one late, and that was a hell of an inning. I’m really proud of the guys. They’ve been working hard. They’ve been taking some heat, and that was good to see.
“Hopefully, that’s the start of something.”
Down 6-2 and seemingly headed for another disappointing loss, the Guardians (18-21), who have been at the bottom of the majors in most offensive categories, pulled off an improbable win that looked like so many last season on the way to an American League Central title.
Brandon Drury’s sacrifice fly capped a two-run, ninth-inning rally, and the Angels defeated the Guardians 5-4 to stop a 10-game slide at Cleveland.
“It’s funny,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “You spend four innings thinking, ‘I need to talk to these guys.’ And then about 10 minutes later, it’s, ‘Way to go.’ An odd night.”
Andrés Giménez also homered in the eighth for Cleveland, which until that point had hit into some tough luck and hurt itself with bad baserunning.
The Guardians strung together four consecutive singles, with José Ramírez and Josh Bell driving in runs off Angels reliever Andrew Wantz. Naylor, whom Angels manager Phil Nevin walked intentionally in the ninth inning Friday, then connected on an 0-1 pitch from Ryan Tepera (2-2).
When Naylor’s fifth homer of the season touched down in the right-field seats, players in Cleveland’s dugout cheered wildly and a crowd of 27,644 fans, some of whom had been booing earlier in the inning, finally had something to get excited about.
“We always play until the last out,” said Naylor, who has hit a major league-best seven go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later since 2021. “We just try to play hard all nine [innings]. Anything can happen. We scored six runs in that inning, and that’s kind of unheard of in late innings.
“We have a confident group of guys here. We feed off each other’s energy. Good things happen when you do that.”
Eli Morgan (2-0) pitched one inning to get the win on his 27th birthday. Trevor Stephan retired Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to start the ninth before putting two runners on. The right-hander got Brandon Drury to ground out for his second save.
Mickey Moniak homered in his first at-bat this season and scored three runs for the Angels (21-19), who ended their 10-game losing streak at Progressive Field on Friday night and were in position to make it two consecutive wins before their bullpen flopped.
Rookie shortstop Zach Neto hit a two-run homer for the Angels, who have lost 21 of 23 in Cleveland since 2015.
Nevin didn’t have his full bullpen available but offered no excuses for this one slipping away.
“Four straight hits, you’ve got to stop the bleeding and find some more outs,” Nevin said, referencing the eighth. “[Tepera has] been in those situations before. It just didn’t work out this time.”
Ohtani doubled home the first of two runs for the Angels in the third inning, when they received a slight scare when Trout was hit with a pitch on the left elbow.
After Moniak walked and stole second base, Trout took a 94.1-mph fastball flush in a gap in his protective padding. The three-time AL most valuable player grimaced in pain while walking to first but stayed in and went to third on Ohtani’s hit.
Trout scored on Anthony Rendon’s sacrifice fly and returned to his spot in center field wearing a compression sleeve.
Zach Neto went from being drafted by the Angels to playing for the parent club in less than a year. His parents are still surprised by his whirlwind rise.
The Angels turned a unique double play to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard in the first inning.
The Guardians had runners at second and third with one out when Bell hit a fly ball to medium right. Steven Kwan tagged at third and tried to score, but right fielder Hunter Renfroe made the catch and a perfect throw to third to get a sliding Amed Rosario before the run scored.
It was that kind of night for the Guardians until it wasn’t.
“Yeah, baseball doesn’t always reward you right away, but we battled hard today,” Quantrill said. “We stuck to our guns, that it’s tough to get us out 27 times. It paid off.”
Trainer’s room
Angels: Rendon was replaced in the sixth inning because of groin tightness. ... First baseman Jared Walsh (headaches, insomnia) came out of his first rehabilitation game for triple-A Salt Lake City “feeling great,” according to Nevin. Walsh will continue to get at-bats while playing first and serving as the designated hitter. Nevin said Walsh is “on the right track” but cautioned it could take some time before he rejoins the club.
Guardians: Catcher Mike Zunino (neck stiffness) missed a second consecutive start. He was available as a pinch-hitter, and Francona indicated he could be back in the lineup Sunday.
Up next
The series finale Sunday will feature a high school reunion between Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval (3-1, 3.41 ERA) and Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (1-1, 4.30), who were teammates at Mission Viejo High.
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