September 17, 2022: Amed Rosario records eight hits, and a walk-off knock, in doubleheader sweep

Any fans who decided to take in both games of the Cleveland Guardians-Minnesota Twins split doubleheader on September 17, 2022, spent a very long day—and night—at the ballpark.

The first game of this Saturday twin bill, a 1:10 start, was over in a tidy 2:32, giving fans at Cleveland’s Progressive Field plenty of time for a break at a neighborhood watering hole before the 7:10 evening game. The 5-1 Guardians win in the opener had its share of excitement: José Ramírez celebrated his 30th birthday with a home run and Amed Rosario was 4-for-5 at the plate, stole a base, and helped turn two double plays. For the Twins’ fans, that one run was a home run by Matt Wallner—his first major-league hit.

The nightcap was the middle game of a five-game series.1 Certainly the Cleveland fans were hoping Rosario2 and the rest of the team could continue their success against the Twins—the Guardians had won the last seven head-to-head meetings. At 78-66, Cleveland was unexpectedly leading the AL Central Division3 with Minnesota (72-72) third, six games back.

Konnor Pilkington (1-2, 4.30 ERA), making his 11th career start,4 worked a clean first inning for Cleveland on eight pitches.

Josh Winder (4-4, 3.83 ERA), making the eighth start of his career, did not fare as well. He plunked Steven Kwan on the foot and allowed a single to Rosario. Oscar Gonzalez hit a two-out double off the glove of Jermaine Palacios,5 scoring Kwan for an early 1-0 Cleveland lead.

These two pitchers had faced off in the second game of a doubleheader on June 28. The Twins won 6-0, with Winder earning the win and Pilkington charged with the loss.

The second, third, and fourth innings and the top of the fifth were uneventful—the only baserunners were two walks Pilkington allowed to the Twins.

The Guardians dramatically padded their lead in the fifth. Will Benson singled but was erased when Luke Maile grounded into a double play. Winder walked Tyler Freeman. Kwan singled to put two on for Rosario — who hit Winder’s first pitch into the stands, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead. A bloop hit by Ramírez ended Winder’s outing at a fairly typical 82 pitches. Jovani Moran took over the pitching, and after allowing a stolen base he ended the inning by striking out Josh Naylor.

Pilkington struck out two to open the sixth, but when he allowed his first hit of the night, a single to José Miranda, manager Rocco Baldelli replaced him with Nick Sandlin. Pilkington left with a smile and a standing ovation. He was optioned to the minors the next day6 and did not return to the majors until 2023—at least he left on a high note. Sandlin, with his unusual side-arm delivery, allowed a deep fly ball to Correa, but Kwan leapt against the outfield wall for the catch to end the frame.

Before Sandlin relieved Pilkington, Cleveland TV announcers Matt Underwood and Rick Manning said that the Guardians bullpen was in good shape so it shouldn’t be a problem if Pilkington could go only 5⅔ innings, the same as his longest previous outing.7

Moran pitched a one-two-three bottom of the sixth.

Gio Urshela, who began his big-league career with Cleveland in 2015, opened the seventh by bouncing a ball off Sandlin’s leg for an infield single, but he was erased on Gary Sánchez’s fielder’s choice. After Sandlin walked Gilberto Celestino, he was replaced by Sam Hentges. Hentges loaded the bases by plunking Nick Gordon with his first pitch. With the crowd roaring in support, he got out of the inning by striking out Palacios and Wallner on 98 MPH fastballs.

Emilio Pagán took the mound for the Twins in the bottom of the seventh. Kwan hit a two-out double and was able to score thanks to a Twins defensive miscue. Third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh put up the stop sign for Kwan on Rosario’s single. When Twins catcher Sánchez moved toward the mound to try to catch Rosario taking second, no one covered the plate. Kwan was able to scamper home unimpeded—5-0, Guardians. Pagán walked Ramírez but struck out Naylor to end the threat.

The Twins tied the game in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Jake Cave reached when second baseman Owen Miller misplayed the ball. The third Guardians pitcher, Trevor Stephan, allowed a single to Miranda and hit Carlos Correa’s hand8 to load the bases. Urshela hit a two-run single against his former team, followed immediately by a sacrifice fly by Sánchez, scoring Correa.9 The next reliever, James Karinchak, did not stem the scoring—he allowed a two-out homer to Gordon, tying the game, 5-5.

Cleveland did not score in the eighth, but the Guardians did use a pinch-runner and two pinch-hitters (including one for catcher Maile).

Eli Morgan pitched a one-two-three top of the ninth, but the Guardians had to bring in Austin Hedges to catch, emptying their bench.

When Kwan walked and advanced to second on Rosario’s groundout, the crowd rose in anticipation of a walk-off. An intentional walk to Ramírez and a strikeout of Naylor brought up Gonzalez with the chance to be the hero.

Jorge López threw a very wild pitch, Kwan crossed the plate and started to raise his arms in celebration. But the game wasn’t over—the ball got past the netting into the dugout suites behind home plate so Kwan was sent back to third.10 Gonzalez grounded out to second—first baseman Miranda did the splits, but held the bag for the out that sent the game to extra innings.

In the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings, only one Twins batter reached base—on a walk. For their part, the Guardians stranded five baserunners in the 10th and 11th. In the 12th, Gonzalez, the Guardians’ automatic runner, tried to score on Myles Straw’s single but was thrown out at home by center fielder Mark Contreras. Sarbaugh planned to hold Gonzalez at third, but slipped and ended up sending him.11 Cleveland challenged, saying the catcher was blocking the plate, but the challenge was disallowed.

Dereck Rodríguez, son of Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodríguez, had been added to the Twins’ roster between the games to replace a player on the COVID list.12 As the last pitcher in the bullpen, he took over in the 12th, knowing he was in for the duration.13

Kirk McCarty was in the same position as Rodríguez, taking over the pitching in the 13th.14 Urshela golfed a low pitch into left, advancing the automatic runner Correa to third. Sandy León bunted — no one covered first so he was safe. Gordon’s one-out sacrifice fly scored Correa, giving the Twins a 6-5 lead.

Down to their last out in the bottom of the frame, Rosario came through for the Guardians—his single scored automatic runner Ernie Clement to tie the game. That was his eighth hit of the day, as the clock struck midnight.15 Ramírez grounded out, leaving the game tied.

McCarty worked a clean inning in the top of the 14th.

Rodríguez continued pitching, as Minnesota’s only other options at this point were starting pitchers. The Twins intentionally walked Naylor, bringing up Gonzalez. That gave the ever-diminishing crowd a seventh opportunity to sing along with his walk-up song—the theme to the TV show SpongeBob SquarePants. After he struck out, Miller grounded to third. The Twins got the out at second but missed the double play by a hair. They challenged the slide at second, saying they should have had a double play. The original call was upheld. Straw had an opportunity to end the game, but flied out to left.

Correa’s fly out to center in the top of the 15th was deep enough to advance Miranda, the free runner, to third. The Guardians intentionally walked Urshela, then turned a double play on León’s grounder.

Clement bunted the first pitch of the bottom of the 15th, moving Straw, the free runner, to third. The Twins moved three fielders between second and third to face Hedges.16 He grounded to third and third baseman Urshela grabbed the ball and tagged Straw, falling over him as Straw tried to dive back.17 Kwan’s two-out single moved Hedges to third—which put him in position to score the winning run when Rosario’s grounder went under Palacios’s glove. Final score, 7-6, Cleveland; time of game 5:24.

Rosario received the traditional Gatorade shower. Besides being the hero in the 13th and 15th innings, he tied the Cleveland record with eight hits in a doubleheader.18

Fifteen innings was the longest regular season game of 2022.19 These teams had played a similar 16-inning game on April 18, 2018—but the Twins had the walk-off win in that game.20

Cleveland won its division and the Wild-Card Series, but lost the AL Division Series to the Yankees, three games to two. Manager Terry Francona’s contribution to the Guardians’ unexpected success was recognized with his third AL Manager of the Year Award.21 The Twins finished third, missing the postseason.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Jim Sweetman and copy-edited by Len Levin. Thanks to Andrew Harner for access to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

References

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, Baseball Reference, and Retrosheet, the author viewed the recorded game on mlb.tv (Cleveland and Minneapolis broadcasts).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE202209172.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2022/B09172CLE2022.htm

Notes

1 Because of the owners’ lockout that delayed the start of the 2022 season, there were atypical scheduled doubleheaders and five-game series. The early game attendance was 18,177; the night attendance was 24,449.

2 Rosario hit .377 against the Twins in 2022, compared with .268 against all other teams. His overall 2022 average was .283.

3 The Guardians’ 2022 success was unexpected. Rookies, veterans, and manager Terry Francona all deserved credit for exceeding the predictions. Jesse Rogers, “How the Guardians Grew Up to Become Baseball’s Most Surprising Division Winner,” espn.com, October 13, 2022,  https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34777824/2022-mlb-playoffs-cleveland-guardians-got-alds. Zach Meisel, “Meisel: A Few Final Thoughts on the Cleveland Guardians’ 2022 Season,” theathletic.com, October 22,2022, https://theathletic.com/3707605/2022/10/20/cleveland-guardians-2022-season/.

4 Both starting pitchers had debuted in April 2022, and had made a handful of relief appearances in addition to their starts.

5 Jermain Palacios (Twins) and Richie Palacios (Guardians pinch-hitter in the eighth inning) were not related. The third Palacios in the major leagues in 2022, Joshua Palacios, was Richie’s brother.

6 “Transactions,” St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times, September 19, 2022: 2B.

7 Author’s suggestion to future broadcasters: Don’t say that.

8 Correa’s finger was bleeding, but it was patched up in the dugout and he stayed in the game.

9 Stephan was charged with three earned runs, even though the Guardians were charged with only one earned run. See Section 10.16(i) of the scoring rules, which allows earned runs to be charged to a specific pitcher even if the runs are not treated as earned at the team level.

10 Progressive Field had ground-level suites behind home plate. The ball went into the gap at the bottom of the frame holding the netting protecting the fans. If it had bounced back onto the field, it would have been considered in play and the run would have scored (assuming the Twins didn’t find the ball and tag the runner). “Progressive Field Ground Rules,” MLB.com, accessed September 21, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/guardians/ballpark/ground-rules.

11 Paul Hoynes, “Nightcap Win Had Several Crazy Twists,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 19, 2022: B3.

12 As part of MLB’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a separate injured list and protocols for players who tested positive for the virus.

13 Phil Miller, “Fill-In Rodriguez Lauded for Keeping Twins Afloat,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, September 19, 2022: C3.

14 Ryan Lewis, “Guardians Ace Bieber Has Looked Like Cy Young Bieber as of Late,” Akron Beacon Journal, September 19, 2022: 1C.

15 This was his fifth and final four-hit game of 2022.

16 This type of shift was permissible in 2022 and prior years. It was prohibited starting in 2023.

17 Paul Hoynes.

18 Steve Herrick, “Minnesota, Ryan Shut Out Guardians, 3-0,” Lima (Ohio) News, September 19, 2022: 1B. The others were Nap Lajoie, October 1, 1910; George Burns, June 19, 1924; and Earl Averill, May 7, 1933.

19 Ken Blaze, “Twins Rally, Fall to Cleveland in Longest MLB Game This Season,” si.com, September 18, 2022, https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/twins/twins-rally-fall-to-cleveland-in-longest-mlb-game-this-season. Although this was the longest regular-season game, there were some long postseason games (played without the free runner in extra innings). The Guardians played a 15-inning wild-card game on October 8, but that took only 4:57. Houston and Seattle played an 18-inning game to end the ALDS on October 15 for 6:22—at least that was a day game.

20 The other similarity was that each team scored one in an extra inning, in that case the 14th. Jose Ramírez played in that game as well.

21 He also won that award managing the Cleveland team in 2013 and 2016.