CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio grew to become the sixth participant in MLB historical past to hit a grand slam and a walk-off house run in the identical recreation on Friday, main the staff to a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tigers.
He summed up his accomplishment in a single phrase: “Impressive.”
Rocchio homered main off the ninth inning after connecting on a tying grand slam within the fourth, rallying Cleveland to a win within the first recreation of a cut up doubleheader. The Guardians scored the ultimate six runs of the sport.
The 25-year-old Venezuelan joined George Kelly of the New York Giants (June 14, 1924); Hank Greenberg of Detroit (Aug. 19, 1938); Minnie Minoso of the Chicago White Sox (April 19, 1960); Otto Velez of the Toronto Blue Jays (May 4, 1980); and Jack Clark of the Boston Red Sox (July 31, 1991) within the unique membership.
Kelly, Greenberg and Minoso are Hall of Famers. Rocchio is in his fourth season, all with the Guardians, who’re battling for his or her third consecutive postseason berth.
“What a cool day for him,” Cleveland supervisor Stephen Vogt stated. “Every season has a different story, but he’s been really consistent with his work and with his effort all along.”
As if the feat wasn’t spectacular sufficient, Rocchio achieved it by homering from each side of the plate. His grand slam to proper discipline off Keider Montero was batting left-handed, whereas his walk-off homer to left in opposition to Drew Sommers got here as a righty.
“First time in my life, yeah,” Rocchio stated, smiling. “I’ve never done that before.”
Rocchio’s slam traveled 366 toes, prompting an excited Austin Hedges to leap on Nathaniel Lowe’s again on the highest step of the Guardians dugout. The total staff leaped within the air whereas assembly him at house plate following his 405-foot game-ending shot.
Cleveland maintained its maintain on the final American League wild-card spot with the comeback victory.
“Everything that we do is for the team, to help the team make the playoffs,” stated Rocchio, who’s batting .247 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs in 134 video games. “We’re going to play from the first out to the last out.”