Schneemann becomes latest late-inning hero in Guardians' weekend of walk-offs

CLEVELAND -- Maybe we’ll remember this as the Weekend of Walk-offs at Progressive Field.

Or more importantly, maybe it’ll be the weekend that helped pave the Guardians’ path to the postseason.

Daniel Schneemann hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning on Sunday, sending the Guardians to a 3-2 win over the Tigers at Progressive Field. It marked Schneemann’s first career walk-off hit, Cleveland’s seventh this season and its third this weekend.

Brayan Rocchio hit a walk-off solo home run to secure a 7-6 win in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader, and Travis Bazzana knocked a walk-off single in a 4-3 win in Game 2. It marked the first time Cleveland had three walk-off wins in a four-game series since May 17-20, 2013, against the Mariners.

Remarkably, the Guardians did not hold a single lead in any of their wins this weekend before they delivered a walk-off hit.

“What a great weekend,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Obviously we wish we could win games differently and be a little more relaxed. But that's not who we are. We love these games, and it happens every time with [the Tigers].”

The Guardians improved to 73-71 and moved to two games out of first place in the AL Central, pending the outcome of the first-place White Sox (74-68) matchup with the Twins on Sunday Night Baseball. Cleveland also reassumed the third AL Wild Card spot, after the Blue Jays (72-72) lost, 6-1, to the Royals on Sunday.

It wasn’t relaxing, but the Guardians took care of business this weekend to finish the season 10-3 vs. the Tigers. They will take wins however they can get them at this point in the season, when a few games or one single series can swing things dramatically.

Cleveland just needs to win as often as it can over the next three weeks.

“Walk-off wins are so much fun, but also there's more to it than just that, right?” said closer Cade Smith, who struck out five batters over two scoreless innings. “We're in the hunt. The weather's starting to turn. It's starting to feel like fall is coming. It’s starting to feel like we're chasing playoff baseball.

“We're right on the cusp. To have energy like that in the ballpark, and for us to grind and rally and come back and win like that is so much fun.”

Starter Gavin Williams paved the way. The big right-hander allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts over six innings. He assumed the MLB lead in punchouts (228), ahead of Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski (227). ​

Sunday also marked Williams’ 11th start this season with 10-plus strikeouts, which broke a tie with Misiorowski for the MLB lead. Williams is just the fifth pitcher in Cleveland franchise history with 11 or more starts with double-digit strikeouts in a single season. He joins Bob Feller (1946), Sam McDowell (1965, ‘68), Herb Score (1956) and Corey Kluber (2014, ‘17).

“I don't think that means anything to me,” Williams said of leading MLB in strikeouts. “I think there's a bigger goal as a team. I don't really want to look at what I've done, but I want to look at what the team has done. Yeah, it's cool, but there’s a bigger picture, for sure.”

Williams kept the Guardians in the game after allowing two runs in the first inning, and Brayan Rocchio hit a game-tying solo home run in the fifth. The next four innings were a gridlock offensively during another strong day by Vogt’s bullpen.

Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Smith combined to allow just one walk over four scoreless innings. Cleveland's bullpen allowed just four runs over 17 2/3 innings during the four-game series. Smith struck out John Peck to end the top of the 10th inning, which set the table for Schneemann’s walk-off single off right-hander Kyle Finnegan in the bottom half of the frame.

“I really wanted to come through right there,” Schneemann said. “But I try not to let the situation get too big, try not to put too much pressure on myself. In those situations, I’m trying to slow things down.”

The Guardians have 18 regular-season games remaining. They all figure to be pressure-packed affairs, regardless of whether Cleveland is taking it down to the wire with a nightly walk-off or not. That’s the nature of the beast this time of year.

Vogt hopes his club is better for it.

“The rest of the year feels like the postseason,” Vogt said. “That's how it works in the second half of September. So we’ve got to keep it rolling. It's one day at a time, but every one of these games gets our guys more and more confident with this experience.”