July 13, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Cleveland Guardians outfielder Jhonkensy Noel (43) celebrates with outfielder Tyler Freeman (2) after hitting a two-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports Right-hander Ben Lively, who has allowed more than three runs in just two of his 15 starts this season, will look for his ninth win of the season when he takes the mound Sunday afternoon for the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians in the deciding game of their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Lively (8-4, 3.59 ERA) allowed three runs in four innings in his only previous start against Tampa Bay, and returned in 2018 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (5-5, 4.20 ERA) will start for the Rays, who will be looking for their seventh series win in their last eight attempts. A victory would also give Tampa Bay a .500 record heading into the All-Star break.
Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon as rookie Jhonkensy Noel hit a two-run home run as a pinch hitter to take the lead in the eighth inning.
With one out and Tyler Freeman on first base after singled as a pinch-hitter with a broken bat, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Noel, nicknamed “Big Christmas,” hit an 0-1 slider off reliever Garrett Cleavinger 424 feet deep into the left-center field bleachers for his fourth homer in just 35 major league at-bats since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on June 26.
“Big Christmas is back,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Since he’s come in, his batting has been off the charts. And when he throws, he doesn’t miss.”
“It was electric, coming off the bench to hit that ball,” said second baseman Andres Gimenez, who had two hits and an RBI.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said he liked the matchup between the left-handed Cleavinger and the right-handed Noel.
“Cleav has done a really good job for us pretty much all season,” Cash said. “He got past him and Noel saw that good shot and jumped on it for the biggest shot of the day.”
It was just Cleveland’s third away win in their last 11 attempts. That victory, combined with Baltimore’s 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees, means the Guardians are guaranteed to enter the All-Star break with the best record in the American League.
Tampa Bay, which won the series opener 2-0 last Friday behind seven shutout innings from Taj Bradley, had eight hits in Saturday’s loss (including a triple and two doubles). But the Rays finished 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The Rays also went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position in Friday’s win and are just 8 for 72 in that category over their last eight games.
“It’s a trend,” Cash said. “We’ve got to kind of reverse that trend. You feel it in the dugout, you feel it throughout the game. We’re capable of making big shots. They’re not coming right now. Hopefully we can get that back a little bit tomorrow before the break.”
–Field level media
