CLEVELAND -- Before they even took the field on Saturday night at Progressive Field, the Guardians had witnessed enough playoff push pressure for one day. They watched on a clubhouse television as the rival White Sox fended off late threats from the Tigers in one of those anxious September games in which every pitch comes with a complimentary panic attack and a side of ulcers.
The heart can only take so much of that.
So with their American League Central lead temporarily trimmed to a half-game by Chicago’s win, the Guards, who know they have to beat the Sox in the division outright because of the tiebreaker, went out and walloped the A’s.
Not much tension here. Just a five-run first, a five-run third, a two-homer night from Angel Martínez and a 12-6 victory lap for a Cleveland club (80-75) that remains a game up on the South Siders (79-76) in the race for the AL Central title and the first-round bye that quite possibly comes with it.
“It’s just fun baseball, right?” said Chase DeLauter, whose three-run blast in the first inning erased a 2-0 deficit on a night in which the Guards never looked back. “This is what you play all year for.”
Martínez hadn’t played in five days because of right side/flank inflammation. You wouldn’t know it. He returned with a roar, cranking out four hits, driving in three runs, notching 11 total bases (most by a Guardians player this season) and finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He went from flank to tanks, homering from both sides of the plate.
It was an elite performance from a young outfielder who has been an unsung hero in the Guardians’ push for their third straight division crown.
“It’s easy when you’re not playing to get your mind away,” Martínez said. “So for me, watching what they were doing, seeing the reports and getting ready and focused before the game [was important]. We’ve got to win, so any way I can help the team win, I’ve got to focus.”
That the Guards received a less-than-inspiring outing from Tanner Bibee, who was rocked for six runs on 12 hits over 4 2/3 innings by the A’s injury-riddled offense, was a forgivable footnote. Because while he struggled, his supporting cast ambushed the A’s less-than-stellar staff.
Down 2-0 early, Cleveland’s first five batters against A’s lefty starter Jacob Lopez went as follows:
- Steven Kwan 100.6 mph single
- José Ramírez 103.2 mph single
- DeLauter 394-foot homer to center to make it 3-2
- Jo Adell 106.1 mph single
- Martínez 402-foot homer to center to make it 5-2
“That’s what it’s all about, you know, we come out and give up a couple early, but we can watch the last couple days and see we don't feel like we're out of any game,” DeLauter said. “So it was nice to come out there and put up runs, and we kept the bats going.”
And that was just an appetizer.
The Guardians’ half of the third inning had more doubles than a “Fast & Furious” set. Martínez, David Fry, Austin Hedges and Brayan Rocchio each ripped one off Lopez, en route to yet another five-run frame for the home nine.
By the time Martínez homered for the second time, yanking one out to right from the left-hand batter’s box for a solo shot in the fourth, the Guards were up, 11-4. It was the third time this season they exceeded 10 runs.
There were points this season -- long ones -- in which Cleveland’s offense was a tough watch. Right now, it’s a tough out.
“It’s a ramp up [over the course of the season],” manager Stephen Vogt said. “That's understanding young guys are gonna take some time to understand how it works out and flows, but I just feel like the offense is clicking at the right time. And also with the Trade Deadline, what Jo Adell's brought to us in our lineup, and, David Fry, since he's come back, has been swinging the bat a lot more like himself. So it just feels like this team is clicking, and that's what you gotta do.”
Bibee did not pitch efficiently or effectively with the big edge. He needed 95 pitches to get through 4 2/3, and this outing jumped into the top 10 worst of his career.
Didn’t matter. He had an Angel on his shoulder and the bats en masse behind him. The Guards were content on this day to let the Sox sweat it out while they swatted it out.
“We can't control the scores of the other game and who’s playing, who’s pitching, who’s hitting for those guys,” DeLauter said. “The only thing we can do is come here, get prepared, and be ready at 6 or 7 o'clock.”