CLEVELAND -- You all can keep your Christmas in July celebrations. The Guardians would rather have Big Christmas in August.

Jhonkensy Noel couldn¡¯t have given his team a better present on Monday night, launching two homers in the Guardians¡¯ 9-8 victory over the Cubs at Progressive Field. At the time, Cleveland had no idea just how crucial each of those blasts would be, considering the bullpen surrendered five runs, allowing Chicago to fight all the way back. In the end, Noel was the difference maker.

¡°For Big Christmas to go two times and for us to keep adding on was huge,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°The bullpen has picked us up all year. Time and time again, they¡¯ve picked us up. So it was really nice for our offense to pick up the bullpen tonight.¡±

With two outs and runners on the corners in the fourth, Noel demolished the ball a Statcast-projected 400 feet over the left-field wall. If fans weren¡¯t running on the concourse, tracking it down, it would¡¯ve left the ballpark on one hop.

It didn¡¯t matter that the splitter from Shota Imanaga was low, well out of the zone. It didn¡¯t matter that Noel dropped to one knee to reach it. When you have the type of power that Noel has, all you have to do is make solid contact to watch a baseball soar, and he certainly did that. It¡¯s a simple concept that he¡¯s been working on since Spring Training.

¡°I know I have the power. Everybody knows that,¡± Noel said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. ¡°What [the coaches] told me in Spring Training, I can hit it 500 feet, 400 feet, the important part for me is to put the ball in play. So whenever I¡¯m able to put the ball in play, that¡¯s a really good feeling.¡±

Noel hasn¡¯t been as consistent as he would probably like in his rookie season. He also hasn¡¯t gotten consistent at-bats in order to settle into a groove. But that hasn¡¯t stopped him from delivering in big moments. It hasn¡¯t prevented him from hitting the long ball. It hasn¡¯t held him back from improving his strikeout rate that was sky-high through the Minor Leagues. And it certainly hasn¡¯t hindered his defense.

Before his first big swing, Noel already threw himself in the spotlight with an impressive diving catch to end the fourth inning. The Cubs had scored two in the third. They added a solo homer in the fourth. Momentum was shifting in Chicago¡¯s favor as Seiya Suzuki seemed to hit a double down the right-field line with two runners on and two out.

But Noel halted the momentum by making a diving grab that Statcast determined had just a 30% chance of being caught.

¡°That was a game-saver,¡± Vogt said. ¡°I think that killed the momentum right there for them. That was an unbelievable play. He¡¯s continued to just shine on defense.¡±

So, Noel had the catch. He added the go-ahead homer that turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead. And still, Noel wasn¡¯t done.

Steven Kwan followed his lead with a two-run shot of his own and when Noel got to the plate again, he added another solo jack in the sixth to give the Guardians a five-run lead. Noel became the first Cleveland player with eight or more homers in his first 31 career games since Russell Branyan (1998-2000).

"On the first home run, I had him on two strikes. It was a good pitch,¡± Imanaga said, through team interpreter Edwin Stanberry. ¡°He hit the ball off one knee, so you¡¯ve got to tip your cap to him. But with the second one, I feel like I could've done a better job."

Like the idea of putting the ball in play rather than having a boom-or-bust mindset at the plate, improving his defense was top of mind for Noel this offseason. It¡¯s these changes that finally allowed him to have his shot in the Majors, and he¡¯s continuing to prove that he can remain a big leaguer.

And without Noel¡¯s bat in the lineup on Monday, the Guardians surely wouldn¡¯t have earned their 70th win of the season.

¡°The self-awareness that he has and where he wants to get better, and then he¡¯s going out and doing it, working on his speed and agility, working on more contact. He¡¯s seeing the dividends on the highest level,¡± Vogt said.

¡°From the day he got here, he hasn¡¯t been big-eyed.¡±