Down 6-2 and seemingly headed for another disappointing loss, the Guardians scored six times in the eighth to pull off their most improbable victory in a season that was sliding in the wrong direction for the defending American League Central champions.
Andrés Giménez also homered in the eighth for Cleveland, which until that point had hit into some tough luck and hurt itself with bad baserunning.
The Guardians strung together four straight singles, with José Ramírez and Josh Bell driving in runs off reliever Andrew Wantz. Naylor, whom Angels manager Phil Nevin walked intentionally in the ninth Friday, then connected on an 0-1 pitch from Ryan Tepera (2-2).
When Naylor’s fifth homer of the season touched down in the right-field seats, Cleveland’s dugout exploded and a crowd of 27,644 fans, some of whom had been booing earlier in the inning, finally had something to get excited about.
Eli Morgan (2-0) pitched one inning to get the win on his 27th birthday. Trevor Stephan retired Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to start the ninth inning before putting two runners on. The right-hander got Brandon Drury to ground out for his second save.
Mickey Moniak homered in his first at-bat this season and scored three runs for the Angels, who ended their 10-game losing streak at Progressive Field on Friday night and were in position to make it two straight wins before their bullpen flopped.
Rookie shortstop Zach Neto hit a two-run homer for the Angels.
(David Dermer / Associated Press)
Ohtani doubled home the first of two runs for the Angels in the third inning, when they received a slight scare when Trout was hit with a pitch on the left elbow.
After Moniak walked and stole second base, Trout took a 94.1-mph fastball flush in a gap in his protective padding. The three-time AL most valuable player grimaced in pain while walking to first but stayed in and went to third on Ohtani’s hit.
Trout scored on Anthony Rendon’s sacrifice fly and returned to his spot in center field wearing a compression sleeve.
The Angels turned a unique double play to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard in the first.
The Guardians had runners at second and third with one out when Bell hit a fly to medium right. Steven Kwan tagged at third and tried to score, but right fielder Hunter Renfroe made the catch and a perfect throw to third to get a sliding Amed Rosario before the run scored.
Angels starter Reid Detmers gave up two runs and six hits in five innings.
(David Dermer / Associated Press)
Trainer’s room
Angels: Rendon was replaced in the sixth inning because of left groin tightness. … First baseman Jared Walsh (headaches, insomnia) came out of his first rehabilitation game for triple-A Salt Lake City “feeling great,” according to Nevin. Walsh will continue to get at-bats while playing first and serving as the designated hitter. Nevin said Walsh is “on the right track” but cautioned it could take some time before he rejoins the club.
Guardians: Catcher Mike Zunino (neck stiffness) missed his second straight start. He was available as a pinch-hitter, and manager Terry Francona indicated he could be back in the lineup Sunday.
Up next
Sunday’s series finale features a high school reunion between Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval (3-1, 3.41 ERA) and Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (1-1, 4.30), who were teammates at Mission Viejo High.