One inning, seven runs, countless oddities lead Guardians to win

CLEVELAND -- We’ve become accustomed to the go-ahead homers, some scrappy small ball or big walk-off hits that lead to victories. Teams often win games in similar ways night after night. But sometimes, a club wins in a way that's never seen in this millennium.

That was the case for the Guardians in their 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Friday night at Progressive Field. Cleveland plated seven runs in the second inning, forcing Toronto’s pitching staff to throw 70 pitches in that frame. It was the most pitches the Guardians (47-26) have seen in a single inning since at least 2000. It’s just the 10th inning of 70-plus pitches by any team in the Majors in that span.

“This game is very momentum-based and it's weird. We call it time of possession, and you don't really talk about that in anything but football, right?” Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said. “But in baseball, it's the same way. … Teams with momentum, those are better baseball players and vice versa. Teams without momentum are worse baseball players. Whether you like it or not, it's real.”

Seventy pitches. Thirteen batters. Seven runs. Five walks. Four hits. One Toronto error. One stolen base. And one robbed hitting streak. It’s hard to fit much more into one frame. But as much action as the Guardians saw in the second, they did it all with only one extra-base hit and no home runs. Let’s break down the numbers.

70: Not only has it been a while since the Guardians have seen 70 pitches in a single inning, it was the first time any team had done so since the Twins did on Aug. 22, 2014, against the Tigers.

7: The biggest talking point about the Guardians this season has been their improved offense. And yet, they had not enjoyed an inning quite as big as this one yet. Cleveland's seven runs are the most the team has scored in a single frame this season, and the first time it scored this many runs since the fourth inning on Sept. 17, 2023, against the Rangers.

5: This marked the first time the Guardians drew five walks in an inning since Aug. 6, 2020, against Cincinnati. One of their walks on Friday was issued with the bases loaded, as Johnathan Rodriguez watched four straight balls to plate a run and get the scoring frenzy started. The other runs came on a two-run single by Hedges, a fielder’s choice by Steven Kwan, a single to right by José Ramírez and an infield single by Josh Naylor.

14: Kwan was carrying a 14-game hitting streak and a 25-game on-base streak entering the night. Both were snapped after he went 0-for-4 on Friday, but in that second inning, he came as close to a hit as he possibly could have.

After Hedges’ single, Kwan hit a line drive up the middle that Blue Jays shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa tried to snag. It bounced off of the end of his glove and continued into center field, but Hedges, who was at first base, froze to make sure that the ball hadn’t been caught. By the time he could get to second, the ball had already come in from center field to record an 8-4 forceout.

“I was laughing, like, of course Kwan would lose his hitting streak on a hit,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He is going to start another one tomorrow and get the ball rolling again.”

0: Seven runs is a lot to accumulate without getting a chunk from one big swing. This marks the first time Cleveland has scored at least seven runs in an inning without hitting a homer since the top of the sixth in a 10-3 win over the Reds on Aug. 13, 2018.

But none of this comes as a surprise to the Guardians -- or to anyone who has watched them this season. This is the type of baseball they play. When Hedges was asked about the second inning after the game, he summed it up perfectly: It’s kind of like how their season is going.

They aren’t huge power hitters. They don’t chase at the plate. They make other teams work. They wreak havoc on the bases and force defenses into making mistakes. Usually, their plans are stretched out over nine innings. This time, they squeezed it into one.

“That was very much an inning of who we are,” Vogt said.

“For us, it's what we expect,” Hedges added. “It's a pretty dangerous lineup and it's tough to deal with.”