The Cleveland Guardians are headed to the American League Division Series after Oscar Gonzalez hit a walk-off homer.
It took 15 innings, five hours of baseball, and a ton of strikeouts, but the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 1-0. Oscar Gonzalez came up in the bottom half of the inning, SpongeBob theme and all, and proceeded deposit the second pitch of his at-bat into the left field bleachers.
Gonzalez did not seem fazed by facing former Cleveland pitcher Corey Kluber and looked very comfortable in the final at-bat of the game. There are many rookies that would not be able to come through in that situation, but Gonzalez is clearly not one of those rookies. The 24-year old rookie was a very productive bat for the Guardians this season, slugging .461 with 11 home runs and 27 doubles.
This young Guardians team continues to show that they can still come out on top even if it appears it may not be their day. The Guardiac Kids are here and it definitely seems like they are for real.
Next up for Cleveland? The New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.