Bazzana's blast gives Guards spilt

 Travis Bazzana blasted a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Guardians to a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on July 18.

Bazzana’s blast gave the Guardians a split of their day-night doubleheader with the Pirates. Cleveland lost the opener 7-1 as Gavin Williams surrendered three home runs in the loss.
In the nightcap, Cleveland rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win it. The Guardians scored three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to turn what looked like a loss into a victory.
Bazzana’s walk-off singer was the 104th in the history of Progressive Field; 12 more than any team over the same span.
“It was an awesome one with it being a Saturday night, long days, and a comeback win today. It was great,”  Bazzana told MLB.com.
Cleveland improved to 52-47 with the win  and remains tied with the White Sox (51-46) for first in the AL Central.
Cleveland came close to winning it prior to Bazzana’s heroics.
Patrick Bailey led off the bottom of the ninth with a base hit. Steve Kwan followed a rifled shot down into the left field corner that sent Bailey flying around the bases. Pittsburgh left fielder Ryan Reynolds was able to field the ball after it bounced off the wall. His throw sailed over the intended cutoff but did find its way to Pirate third baseman Nick Gonzales, who was able to cut down Bailey at the plate, who tried to score standing up.
Cade Smith, who worked a scoreless ninth inning, picked up the win. The Guardians used seven pitchers in the bullpen start. Logan Allen started and went 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, two earned.
A crowd of 32,997 saw the nightcap. The first game was a makeup of the July 17th contest, which was cancelled due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires that had made its way south and blanketed Cleveland.

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