Royals rally against Guardians bullpen to end Cleveland's win streak at five games

CLEVELAND — The Guardians were finally cooled off Wednesday night at Progressive Field. With a chance to clinch the series and potentially gain ground in the wild card race, Cleveland instead fell 4-3 to the Royals, who rallied against the bullpen in a back-and-forth game that included three lead changes and two ties. Kansas City scored twice off left-hander Tim Herrin in the seventh inning to halt the Guardians' win streak at five games, while handing them only their fifth loss in 15 games. Manager Stephen Vogt turned to Herrin over fellow lefty Erik Sabrowski and it wound up being the wrong decision. "They're both equally as good," Vogt said. "Tim Herrin has been one of our best bullpen guys for the last year and a half. Erik's been solid for us, too. It just felt right. That was Timmy's pocket (of hitters) tonight." The loss left Cleveland three games behind the Mariners, who were still playing, and two games behind the Rangers for the final American League wild card spot. The Royals closed to a half game behind the Guardians. Of the six starting pitchers, only Logan Allen was unable to make a quality start the first time through the rotation. The left-hander did it again Wednesday night, failing to last six innings, but only allowing two runs over five. The Royals struck first in the opening inning after shortstop Brayan Rocchio failed to make a play on a grounder from leadoff man Mikael Garcia, who scored on a two-out single from Jonathan India. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to throw up a zero that inning," Allen said. "At the end of the day, it's part of the game. That's how it goes. You just gotta do what you can to go get an out and keep making pitches." Allen threw 29 pitches in the first, contributing to his early exit. "I thought Logan threw the ball well. They got his pitch count up in the first," Vogt said. "It seems like there's always something with Logan when he goes out there. We have some sort of play that extends his inning. But I thought he made pitches when he needed to. "Logan's been solid for us. Every time he takes the ball, he gives us a chance to win. He's a competitor. That's one thing I love about Logan. He'll go out there and give you everything he has." Kyle Manzardo answered with a two-run homer off Royals starter, opener Jonathan Bowlan, in the bottom of the first. Manzardo's blast traveled an estimated 435 feet to right field, accounting for his longest homer of the season. Kansas City tied it quickly on Vinnie Pasquantino's base hit to score Bobby Witt Jr. in the third, but Cleveland struck right back on a two-out single to right from Bo Naylor on an 0-2 pitch. Herrin got an out before walking a batter and allowing the game-tying single to Kyle Isbel. Right-hander Hunter Gaddis came on and surrendered a double off the left-field wall to the first batter he faced, Mikael Garcia, who put the Royals on top for good. Steven Kwan had two of the Guardians' first four hits. Rocchio also atoned for his misplay in the first with two hits. Rocchio, who was demoted to the minors after a miserable start at the plate, is tied for the team lead with 28 second-half RBIs and is hitting .296 with six RBIs this month. It's earned him the nickname "Rocctember" on social media. "I have some friends who always joke with me about it, and I heard about it, but I try to stay away from social media as much as possible," Rocchio said through an interpreter. He acknowledged it was funny, but in all seriousness, the Guardians know they need to get back to their winning ways with a postseason berth on the line. "We feel like it's kinda like playoff baseball at this point. You've gotta focus on winning every single game," Rocchio said. "It's difficult when you lose, but also you get confidence when you win." "It's exciting to play meaningful baseball," Allen said. "We know what's in front of us and we know what we're playing for. Obviously, the losses hurt a little bit, but we're right back to it (Thursday). We've got an opportunity to win a series and gain some more ground and that's what we're trying to do." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.