The Angels had this one lined up early, then watched it slip away.
Los Angeles jumped on Cleveland for five runs in the first two innings Tuesday night, only to see the Guardians claw all the way back for an 8-6 win in 10 innings in Southern California. José Ramirez was the difference-maker, piling up three doubles and five RBIs to power the comeback and hand the Angels their third straight loss.
The night started fast for the home side. Vaughn Grissom opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Christian Moore followed with his first home run of the season in the second. Denzer Guzman and Zach Neto also chipped in with RBI knocks as the Angels built a 5-0 lead before Cleveland had really settled in.
But the Guardians flipped the script from there.
Cleveland answered with three runs in the fourth, added two more in the fifth, and then scored once in the sixth to pull even and force extra innings. By then, the momentum had fully swung, and Ramirez kept pressing the advantage in the 10th with a go-ahead two-run double. He finished 3-for-5, with all three hits going for doubles.
Walbert Urena started for the Angels and went 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Gavin Williams got the ball for Cleveland but couldn’t stick around long, giving up five runs on six hits in just 1.1 innings.
After Williams exited, the Guardians turned to six pitchers, and Erik Sabrowski picked up the win. The Angels also went deep into the bullpen, using six pitchers total, including Urena. Blake Weiman took the loss after allowing two hits and two runs, one earned.
Los Angeles will try to stop the skid Wednesday afternoon when the series wraps up. Joey Cantillo, who is 9-7 with a 3.73 ERA, is scheduled to start for Cleveland, while Grayson Rodriguez, 4-5 with a 6.41 ERA, will take the mound for the Angels.
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