The Guardians opened a doubleheader against the Tigers on Friday looking dead in the water, trailing 6-1 as early as the third inning. Cleveland is clinging to the final American League wild-card spot with a shrinking cushion, and a loss to a rebuilding Tigers team would've stung. Instead, Brayan Rocchio decided the game was his to take over.
Brayan Rocchio game-tying GRAND SLAM! (Via: @MLB)
That slam — his first career grand slam, per MLB.com — flipped a laugher into a ballgame. But Rocchio wasn't done. He led off the bottom of the 9th and hit the deciding blow himself, turning a game his team was losing by five into a 7-6 walk-off win completed entirely on his own bat.
THE BRAYAN ROCCHIO GAME
It was Rocchio's third career walk-off homer, and it capped his first career multi-homer game. Zack Meisel of The Athletic didn't waste time labeling it — "Happy Rocctember, to those who celebrate" (2095973465157202127) — a nod to the fact that this isn't the first time Rocchio has picked September, or October, to turn things up.
For anyone unfamiliar with the legend of Playoff Rocchio... t.co/qTPlBUWQfF
Rocchio's late-inning habit has a track record. He's earned the "Playoff Rocchio" nickname for a run of postseason clutch hitting, including a go-ahead homer against these same Tigers in last year's Wild Card Series. Friday's version was a regular-season reminder that the reputation isn't hype — it's a pattern.
The stakes made it matter beyond one box score. Cleveland entered the day at 70-70, holding the third AL wild-card spot by half a game over Toronto and Texas, with Detroit lurking 5.5 games back. A split doubleheader loss to a team fighting to stay in the race would've tightened things further; instead, Rocchio single-handedly kept the margin where it was. With 22 games left on the schedule, that's the kind of win that swings a September.