Cleveland's win fueled by a 2-run sac fly: That's 'Guards Ball'

CLEVELAND -- The key to understanding the success of the Guardians’ season is to stop wondering why or how it’s happening and to accept the simple answer that everyone with the team gives you: They’re playing “Guards Ball.”

But to accept that answer, you have to have at least somewhat of an understanding of what Guards Ball means. There’s no better example than this team scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning of their 8-4 victory over the Orioles on Friday at Progressive Field.

Yes, you read that correctly. With one out and the bases loaded, José Ramírez lifted a fly ball to center field. Brayan Rocchio, who was on third, tagged up and raced home, prompting center fielder Cedric Mullins to fire the ball toward the plate. As Rocchio broke for home, Austin Hedges (who was on second) hightailed it to third base. And with second base open, Steven Kwan (who was on first) wanted to move up 90 feet if the throw was heading to the plate.

But instead, the throw was cut off by first baseman Ryan Mountcastle in the middle of the infield. At that point, it looked like Kwan was stranded with nowhere to go. But Kwan got into a rundown and danced around a tag. With no one covering first, he knew he could bolt back to the bag. As Kwan had the defense distracted, Hedges broke for home.

“I actually didn’t feel like I was moving in slow motion on those, which is pretty rare,” Hedges said, laughing. “That’s usually how I feel when I’m running.”

Mountcastle realized he wasn’t getting Kwan and tried to throw Hedges out at the plate, but his throw was not in time as Hedges dove across home and jumped up screaming, firing up his dugout.

“I know I was screaming,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “You can’t help it.”

This is what the Guardians define as “Guards Ball.”

It’s not always the flashiest plays and it doesn’t always make the highlight reels. It’s Rocchio and Kwan drawing bases-loaded walks to score runs like they did in the second and sixth innings, respectively.

“We take a lot of pride in our 3-2 counts,” Hedges said. “And we managed to get some walks there, work some pitch counts and then work some pitch counts.”

It’s Josh Naylor standing on second base, shrugging to his dugout after a ball with a 5 percent hit probability drops into shallow left field for a two-run double.

“The boys do a really good job at riding out a momentum swing,” Hedges said. “Because momentum in this sport, if you get it, it’s hard to come back from.”

It’s trusting Platinum Glove winner Andrés Giménez to make unbelievable plays, like when he flipped the ball behind his back to get a force out at second base in the second inning. It’s scoring eight runs without hitting a single homer. And as we already established, it’s scoring two runs on a Ramírez sacrifice fly.

“Obviously we make some aggressive plays, and sometimes it doesn’t look that good,” Hedges said. “But it puts a lot of pressure on the other team and they’re aware that we’re ready to take extra bases.”

This isn’t a traditional recipe for success, but it’s led the Guardians to the best record in the Majors through 109 games. This has been their mindset for the past three seasons. It was successful in 2022 and led them to the second round of the playoffs. It didn’t work in ‘23, as the energy that was created in ‘22 seemed to be zapped out of the room. But now, it’s back.

Guards Ball is a gritty style of play, but it’s also a vibe. It’s a feeling and a belief that somehow this team will find a way to win every single night. It’s helped that this offense has more pop than in years past, but at the end of the day, this team knows that it has to rely on this chaotic style of play to win consistently.

The Guardians know it’s unconventional and it’s only fueled them even more.

“You can’t just create energy like this on a daily basis. It doesn’t exist in this sport,” Hedges said. “It’s too many games. Too many negative things happen that make you go on a downward spiral. Our downward spirals are like a couple games and then it’s boom, it’s right back. That’s what every team wants.”