Bailey comes up big twice -- after starting game on bench

CHICAGO -- The big moment seems to find Patrick Bailey.

The fact he’d even be in one Thursday night seemed improbable due to the fact that the catcher wasn’t in the starting lineup for Game 4 of the American League Division Series at Rate Field.

But Bailey made his presence known in a big way not once, but twice after entering as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning of the Guardians’ 9-5 comeback win over the White Sox. The victory kept Cleveland’s season alive and forced a Game 5 on Saturday at Progressive Field.

And Bailey was a critical piece of that outcome.

“Again, this team has answered all year. We talk about it, we punch back,” manager Stephen Vogt said.

The first blow to silence the 39,920 fans in attendance was from Bailey, who clobbered a hanging sinker over the plate a Statcast-projected 376 feet down the right-field line, just inside the foul pole. It was just the second Guardians hit of the night, cutting the deficit to 2-1, and a blast that seemed to wake up the Cleveland lineup.

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“A pitch to drive. I was able to get in a hitter’s count, took advantage of a good pitch to hit, and obviously it got the boys rolling a little bit,” Bailey said after hitting just the fourth pinch-hit homer in Cleveland postseason history. “And [José Ramírez] with that massive homer. It was a lot of fun. It was an awesome game, back and forth. A lot of good ball.”

Cleveland took the lead three batters later on Ramírez’s two-run homer, but Chicago took it back in the bottom of the frame.

That’s when Bailey had his next chance to flip the game, this time against the White Sox best.

After Travis Bazzana tied the score in the sixth with an RBI double, the South Siders turned to Grant Taylor to face Bailey with one out. The tough right-hander had pitched 7 2/3 innings this postseason and allowed just an unearned run to go along with 11 strikeouts.

Bailey wasted no time smacking a go-ahead RBI single to the opposite field, giving the Guardians a lead they would never relinquish and kick-starting a rally in which six straight Cleveland hitters reached base.

When the inning was over, Cleveland led, 9-4.

The Guardians are just the fifth team in MLB history to score nine-plus runs in consecutive postseason games when facing elimination.

“I just can’t applaud our guys enough for the at-bats there. Obviously, we’ve seen Taylor. We know how good he is,” Vogt said. “All of our guys laid off the tough pitches, got some good pitches, didn’t try to do too much, took what they were given. We are able to keep adding on. Really proud of the offense and the way they stepped up tonight.”

Despite not entering until the fifth, Bailey finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He’s just the fifth player with multiple RBI hits in a postseason game he did not start since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, joining Raul Ibanez (2012), Brian Hunter (1991), Rob Wilfong (1986) and Dusty Rhodes (1954).

That came after Bailey notched two hits and drew a walk during Wednesday’s 9-3 win in Game 3.

It’s not the first time Bailey has been a major player in big games, though, and that’s part of the reason why Cleveland acquired him in May. He has hit four career walk-off homers, including a walk-off grand slam and an inside-the-park homer, and that ability to hit in the clutch has translated well during his time in Cleveland.

A swing adjustment in July helped him take off and harness that power more consistently; he crushed eight of his 10 homers this season in his final 54 games. Now, that has translated to the postseason.

“He always [brings] that extra energy,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Things started happening once he was in the game.”

Bailey wasn’t in the lineup because Austin Hedges almost always catches for Parker Messick, who went just 2 1/3 innings. But Bailey is expected to be in the lineup for Saturday’s win-or-go-home contest with Gavin Williams, who closed out Thursday’s game, an option to take the hill.

A game that is happening, in part, because of Bailey’s contributions off the bench.

“The discussion [before the game] was if we lose, we're gone. Might as well go out there and win,” Bailey said. “We've still got one more to win at home. Again, this was an awesome atmosphere to play in. We can't wait to get back to Cleveland for Game 5.”