Rocchio does it twice before dark
Brayan Rocchio had already emptied the bases once. In the fourth inning of Friday’s opener at Progressive Field he turned on a Keider Montero pitch for a grand slam, and Cleveland still trailed 6-1 when he got back to the dugout.
The rest came slowly, then all at once. Rocchio faced Drew Sommers in the bottom of the ninth and went deep again, a solo shot that completed a 7-6 comeback and sent Detroit into the break between games with nothing to show for a five-run cushion.
Cade Smith worked the ninth for the win and moved to 4-1. He, Craig Yoho and Erik Sabrowski combined for four scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Montero lasted four, giving up six runs on eight hits. Max Clark collected three hits and two RBIs for the Tigers, and Spencer Torkelson homered and singled.
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Bazzana finishes the job overnight
The nightcap followed almost the same script. Cleveland fell behind 3-0 before Travis Bazzana tied it with a two-run homer in the eighth. Two innings later, with two outs in the 10th, he lined a single that scored Rocchio and ended it 4-3.
Hunter Gaddis retired all six hitters he faced across two innings to improve to 3-3. Kenley Jansen took the loss and fell to 4-6. Kevin McGonigle had two hits and an RBI for a Detroit side that has now lost 16 of its last 20 games.
Where it leaves both clubs
The Guardians had dropped four of six before the doubleheader and needed the day more than the two scorelines suggest. Two walk-offs in the same afternoon and evening is not a routine September for anyone, and the Cleveland bullpen carried most of the weight in both wins.
Detroit’s slide is the larger story for the American League picture. Twenty games, four wins, and a rotation that keeps handing back leads. Montero’s four innings were the kind of outing a team in that position can least afford.
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