Angel Martinez hits grand slam as Guardians win in extra innings

HOUSTON — It was “Friends” Night on Tuesday at Daikin Park. And in a game with multiple plot twists, Angel Martínez was there for the Guardians.

Facing All-Star left-hander Josh Hader with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning, Martinez hit the first grand slam of his career as Cleveland pulled out a 10-6 victory over the Astros.

Perhaps no one told the Guardians things were going to be this way after they took a 6-1 lead against Houston ace Hunter Brown in the fourth. But after the Guardians’ offense got stuck in second gear while the Astros battled back, Martínez came through against a 96.3 mph sinker from Hader.

The 334-foot home run, hit to left field at 97.2 mph with a launch angle of 40 degrees, was a Crawford Boxes special. It wouldn’t have been out of any other ballpark, but that didn’t matter to the 23-year-old, who said his only bigger hit as a Major Leaguer was his first one.

“I knew it was going high, so I was praying for it,” said Martínez, whose slam was Cleveland’s first in extra innings since Carlos Santana’s on Aug. 11, 2019, at Minnesota.

Hader, the American League’s Reliever of the Month in June, entered with a 1.80 ERA and had thrown a scoreless ninth to preserve a 6-6 tie. After Will Wilson’s sacrifice advanced automatic runner Steven Kwan to third in the 10th, Hader intentionally walked José Ramírez, who stole second on the first pitch to Carlos Santana with no throw. Santana drew a walk before Johnathan Rodríguez struck out, setting the stage for Martínez, a switch-hitter now carrying a .308/.349/.487 slash line against left-handers.

“Angel’s been great for us, particularly right-handed,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He knows he belongs here. He’s really showing it.”

Vogt was just as laudatory about the plate appearances of Santana and Rodriguez against Hader.

“That was a great at-bat [by Santana},” Vogt said. “He could have easily gotten overaggressive there versus Hader, but he passed the baton. … And really, you’ve got to shout out Johnathan Rodríguez. I know he struck out, but that’s a six-, seven-pitch at-bat. Makes Hader’s pitch count get up there, and maybe Angel gets a mistake. Just because you strike out, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a quality at-bat.”

Cleveland was getting plenty of quality at-bats against Brown, who entered with an MLB-leading 1.82 ERA. The right-hander surrendered a season-high six runs in six innings and left with an ERA of 2.21.

Ramírez ignited the Guardians with a two-run homer in the first. Doubles by Brayan Rocchio and Nolan Jones produced Cleveland’s next run in the third, and Ramírez was intentionally walked. Santana’s fly to right moved Jones to third, and Ramirez then stole second, setting up a two-run single by Daniel Schneemann to make it 5-1. When Ramirez crossed the plate for the 945th time in his career, he passed Charlie Jamieson for sole possession of fourth place on Cleveland’s career runs list.

Rocchio gave the Guardians an additional run by tagging Brown for his first homer of the season in the fourth. The Guardians wouldn’t get another hit until Rocchio singled off Hader with two outs in the ninth.

“We made [Brown] get into the zone,” Vogt said. “We talked about it pregame. If we can avoid chasing him around the zone, he’s gonna have to come in. I think we had at least three or four hits in 3-1 counts where he had to come after us, and we got some big swings. I mean, Hosey hits a changeup in the first inning, Schnee with the big hit on the curveball, and Rocchio obviously hits a homer. Our guys made him work, and we got some mistakes and didn’t miss ‘em.”

Not to be overlooked were Ramírez’s two uncontested steals of second base with a runner on third. The first set up Schneemann’s two-run single in the fourth, and the second took the double play out of order against Santana in the 10th. Ramirez has 24 steals on the season, tied for fourth in the Majors, and Tuesday’s pair came against an Astros team whose catchers have caught only 11 of 106 opposing basestealers.

“We do our homework, obviously, but that’s Hosey. Hosey knows the game,” Vogt said. “Hosey knows he got a great jump, and when you get a great jump, they’re not going to make a throw first-and-third.”

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