CLEVELAND -- After briefly watching the fly ball carry off his bat and deep into the night sky at Progressive Field, Travis Bazzana turned to his left and began to backpedal while gazing into the Guardians’ third-base dugout. There was no doubt where that ball was headed.
By the time it landed, the Guardians were re-energized. And you could tell Bazzana was, too.
“It's that time of year where you’ve got to make stuff happen, and this team does that,” Bazzana said. “I felt like it was time to bring the energy.”
Bazzana’s eighth-inning game-tying two-run home run off Jacob Waguespack was the appetizer to his walk-off RBI single off Kenley Jansen that sent the Guardians to a 4-3 win over the Tigers in 10 innings on Friday, securing a doubleheader sweep for Cleveland. That clutch blast came a few hours after Brayan Rocchio belted a walk-off solo home run in Game 1 of the twin bill.
It marked the first time the Guardians swept a doubleheader with two walk-offs since Aug. 19, 1984, against the Brewers.
“I think it’s one of those days we’ll remember for a long time,” Bazzana said.
With their pair of thrilling wins, the Guardians (72-70) maintained their hold on the third American League Wild Card spot. They remain 2 1/2 games behind the AL Central-leading White Sox (74-67), who beat the Twins, 4-1, on Friday.
Bazzana has gone through the natural ups and downs every player experiences in their rookie big league season this year, though he has run into more of the latter recently. The 24-year-old slashed .228/.300/.266 over 22 games in August; his .566 OPS was a season low for any single month.
Bazzana went 0-for-5 through his first three games of September. He has had a few rough moments defensively recently. He committed a fielding error in the fifth inning of Thursday’s 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays. During Tuesday’s 11-0 loss to Toronto, he was late getting to second base on a second-inning ground ball that played into shortstop Angel Genao making a throwing error.
“Travis wants to help us win,” manager Stephen Vogt said Thursday. “Travis is a winner. When you're going through your first season, and you want to perform perfectly and you want to be great for your teammates, and you go through a stretch where it's been a little bit tough, you're going to wear it.
“... He came here with expectations, both on himself and from the outside. And he's been great. But again, when you want to help your team win, you're going to show it. You're going to wear it a little bit. We know Travis is a really good player, and he's going to bounce out of it.”
You had to like what you saw on Friday.
Bazzana went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored in the Guardians’ 7-6 comeback win in Game 1. He did not start Game 2, and he only entered in the sixth inning as a pinch-hitter for Chase DeLauter, who exited with a right wrist sprain.
Bazzana flew out in a one-pitch at-bat in the sixth. The Guardians trailed, 3-1, when he stepped to the plate in the eighth. Bazzana got a 2-0 four-seam fastball from Waguespack and hit it a Statcast-projected 389 feet over the center-field wall -- prompting his silent celebration as the ballpark roared around him.
Rocchio got on base in the 10th on a sacrifice bunt attempt in which automatic runner Patrick Bailey was thrown out at third base. Rocchio stole second base during Steven Kwan’s ensuing at-bat, and he swiped third on a 1-2 slider in the dirt from Jansen that Bazzana did not offer at.
Jansen came back with a 2-2 cutter, which Bazzana knocked up the middle and into center field to drive in Rocchio. Bazzana ended up in shallow center field, where he was joined by his teammates that emptied the Guardians’ dugout.
Paired with Rocchio's grand slam and walk-off homer in Game 1, Cleveland was rocking and rolling on Friday. This is crunch time, and every win counts.
It was a big one for the Guardians, and it could be just as big for their rookie second baseman.
“I need to stay steady-headed. But it's massive,” Bazzana said. “I've been trying to figure it all out. I really haven't been at my best. I haven't been the best version of myself as a whole. To be able to let the moment and the game come to me today was huge.
“I think I needed that, those close games and to just get out of my head and compete. Hopefully I can take that through September.”