‘Something special is brewing’: Guards show magic is back with walk-off in extras

CLEVELAND — The Guardians’ magic is back.

Comeback wins were a hot commodity for the Guardians in the first few months of the season. If the team trailed in the seventh inning, the dugout knew the magic was about to happen. But the second half of the season has been a different story … until this week.

Two nights ago, it was a Kyle Manzardo go-ahead homer in the eighth. On Wednesday night, it was a two-homer night by Josh Naylor that led to 5-4 victory over the Twins on a Brayan Rocchio walk-off single in the 10th inning at Progressive Field.

“We’re not going to stop playing until that 27th out or even into extra innings,” Guardians outfielder Will Brennan said. “There’s just kind of this hunger that we want to prove a lot of people wrong and it’s just a lot of fun to be in that clubhouse. Something special is brewing in there.”

Because the Tigers defeated the Royals, the Guardians couldn’t clinch their playoff spot after the win. However, if Cleveland wins on Thursday, it will clinch a postseason berth.

On a night when Twins starter Bailey Ober was mowing every hitter down, Naylor rose to the occasion to keep the Guardians in the fight. He launched game-tying homers in the second and the seventh innings, the first of which was a Statcast-projected, 445-foot bomb into the right field seats. It marked his 30th and 31st homers of the season.

“That’s Nayls,” Brennan said. “He’s gonna be our leader and, gosh, an unbelievable talent.”

Naylor joins José Ramírez as the only two players on Cleveland’s roster with at least 30 homers. They are just the second Guardians duo in the past two decades to reach 30 homers and 100 RBIs in the same season, joining Ramírez and Edwin Encarnacion in 2018.

“What a cool accolade for him,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “30 and 100. It’s a huge milestone for players. It is something special, so to have two guys in our lineup with 30 [homers] and 100 [RBIs is amazing].”

The Guardians know they will have to lean heavily on Naylor’s bat in the postseason, but they also know what made them successful, especially at the beginning of the season. This is a group that had a different hero every night in April and May. It didn’t matter if it was the cleanup hitter or the guy in the eight-hole in the lineup. Over the last few days, it seems like this style of play is creeping back into their repertoire.

It was rare to see Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis give up a run, but with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, Twins shortstop Carlos Correa knocked a single into center field that scored two. But in the bottom of the frame, the Guardians magic slowly manifested.

When Cleveland is able to use its entire bench is when it’s most successful. The bench knows this. If a player isn’t in the starting lineup, they have a mantra.

“Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” Brennan explained. Any player could be called on for a more favorable matchup at any time. It just so happened that two of those were needed in the bottom half of the 10th. And both delivered.

Pinch-hitter Manzardo knocked in the first run on a single to center. Andrés Giménez drew a walk before pinch-hitter Brennan delivered the huge, game-tying RBI single to right field. After Bo Naylor struck out, Rocchio was ready to be the hero with the walk-off single to right.

“It was just a complete team win,” Vogt said. “We never gave up. It was a lot of fun.”

The ball landed in right field and the Guardians dugout emptied. In a matter of seconds, Rocchio’s teammates grabbed buckets of water, bubblegum, sunflower seeds and anything else they could get their hands on to douse Rocchio in to celebrate.

The Guardians spent all but seven days of the season in first place. They’ve seen plenty of success. They’ve enjoyed plenty of high moments. But there’s no secret that the second half of this season has felt a little different from the first.

The first half was electric. It caused everyone in Cleveland to believe early in the year that the postseason was a realistic possibility. And there’s no better time to rediscover that vibe as the group closes in on that playoff berth.

“That magic came back tonight,” Guardians starter Tanner Bibee said. “It was unbelievable to watch.”