Josh Naylor hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians regrouped to beat the Chicago Cubs 8-6 on Sunday after All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase blew a four-run lead in the ninth.
Aaron Civale pitched three-hit ball over six innings after the start of the game was delayed nearly two hours by rain. Andrés Giménez homered in the third and scored the go-ahead run in the 10th.
Giménez opened the inning as the automatic runner on second base and moved up on Amed Rosario’s single. A groundout by José Ramírez left runners on second and third before Naylor drove them in with a single up the middle against Adbert Alzolay (1-4) to put Cleveland back on top 8-6.
Sam Hentges (1-0) retired all three batters in the bottom half, sending the Cubs to their sixth loss in seven games.
The Guardians looked as though they were on their way to an easy win after waiting out yet another long rain delay before things took a wild turn.
Cleveland was sailing along with a 6-1 lead in the eighth when Christopher Morel hit a solo homer for Chicago off Trevor Stephan.
Clase walked Jared Young leading off the ninth and unraveled from there. Trey Mancini hit an RBI single. The Cubs then loaded the bases on back-to-back infield singles by Mike Tauchman and Nico Hoerner that Naylor was unable to turn into outs at first base. Morel drove in two with a single up the middle.
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Cody Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at 6 before Seiya Suzuki grounded out to end the inning.
A game originally set to start at 1:20 p.m. got pushed back in the morning to 4:05. The teams then waited an additional 1 hour, 55 minutes, before the first pitch — all that after Saturday’s game was delayed nearly three hours.
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Giménez hit a two-run homer in the third, then doubled and scored in a three-run fifth against Chicago starter Jameson Taillon that made it 6-0.
Civale gave up one run. He plunked two batters and walked one while throwing 94 pitches.
Taillon allowed six runs — five earned — and seven hits in five innings. The right-hander had six strikeouts and no walks.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Guardians: OF Steven Kwan (sore shoulder) was held out of the starting lineup but entered late on defense. “He’s a hard guy to give a day off because he leads off against lefties and righties, and he plays left field really well,” manager Terry Francona said. “He’s just a hard guy to replace. But then you kind of think, OK, if you get a little stubborn and don’t, you might lose him for a week, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Cubs: RF Seiya Suzuki played the field for the first time since Tuesday. He missed three games because of a stiff neck and was the DH on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Guardians: Rookie RHP Gavin Williams (0-0, 2.84 ERA) makes his third start as the Guardians open a three-game series against Atlanta. All-Star RHP Bryce Elder (6-1, 2.44) looks to stay on a roll for the Braves.
Cubs: LHP Drew Smyly (7-5, 3.96) tries to bounce back from one of his worst starts this season as the Cubs open a four-game series at Milwaukee. Smyly lasted just 3 2/3 innings and matched season highs by allowing seven runs and nine hits in Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia. RHP Julio Teheran (2-3, 2.95) pitches for the Brewers.
