Josh Naylor carries Guardians past White Sox, 12-9, in 11 innings with eight RBI

CHICAGO — Start building the statue now. Josh Naylor is 5-11 and weighs about 250 pounds. All he did Monday night was carry the Guardians to the most improbable victory of the season.

First Naylor pulled the Guardians into a 8-8 tie with a two-out grand slam in the ninth inning. Then he handed Cleveland a 12-9 win with a game-winning, two-out, three-run homer to right center field in the 11th inning at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Naylor drove in eight runs in his last three at-bats. Cleveland is 4-0 against the White Sox this season and has won eight of its last nine games.

After the Guardians forced extra innings by scoring six runs in the ninth, the two teams traded runs in the 10th. Andres Gimenez doubled home automatic runner Ernie Clement for the Guardians, while A.J. Pollock singled home the tying run for the White Sox in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-9 against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase.

Naylor’s slam, the fifth by Cleveland this season, capped a rally that was aided by two Chicago errors. The White Sox made four errors in the game.

Gimenez started the ninth with his third home run of the season for Cleveland. Amed Rosario followed with his third hit of the night, a liner to left field. Shortstop Tim Anderson deflected Pollock’s throw to first as the ball skipped past first base and into foul territory sending Rosario to third.

Rosario scored when Yoan Moncada mishandled Austin Hedges roller to third. Closer Liam Hendriks, who had converted his previous nine straight saves, relieved with two on and two out, but gave up a single to Owen Miller to load the bases. Naylor followed with a first-pitch slam center.

Naylor pulled the Guardians to within 5-2 with a double in the eighth, but it seemed like that was Cleveland’s last gasp.

In the bottom of the eighth, Pollock hit a three-run homer to give Chicago a 8-2 lead. The White Sox rally was aided when Rosario, making his first start in left field since opening day, dropped a fly ball by Adam Engel for an error to put runners on first and second with one out for lefty Anthony Gose. Pollock followed with a three-run homer.

Fans in the left field bleachers, who derisively chanted Rosario’s name in the late innings, had to be delighted. Cleveland manager Terry Francona, before the game, said if Rosario made a mistake in left field, he’d wear it.

Anyone who watched the Guardians sweep the White Sox in a three-game series at Progressive Field in April couldn’t have been surprised by the way this game unfolded. Chicago made seven errors in the series, including five by Anderson. He made three more Monday.

Miller, with two out in the first inning and Steven Kwan aboard after a walk and a steal of second base, sent a liner to right field. It looked like a routine third out, but Chicago’s Gavin Sheets never put leather on the ball as it fell for an error. Kwan scored and Miller went to second.

The Guardians couldn’t squeeze another run out of the situation, but they had a 1-0 lead and things did not look good for Chicago.

Sometimes, however, things are not what they appear to be. Sheets quickly redeemed himself by ambushing Zach Plesac with a three-run homer in the first innning on the way to 4-1 lead.

Plesac struck out Anderson to start the first, but the rest of the inning was a mess. He hit Moncada with a pitch before retiring Jose Abreu on a fly ball to right for the second out. But instead of taking control of the inning, Plesac let it control him.

Luis Robert, who came into the game hitting .539 (7-for-13) against Plesac, singled on a 3-1 pitch to send Moncada to third. Plesac walked Yasmani Grandal on four pitches to load the bases. It prompted a visit from pitching coach Carl Willis, but things did not improve.

Plesac threw a wild pitch to score Moncada from third to tie the score at 1. Sheets made it 4-1 as he golfed a 1-2 slider over the right frield fence for his second homer of the season. Sheets came into the game hitting .400 (2-for-5) against Plesac.

Chicago right-hander Michael Kopech, making his sixth appearance against Cleveland, had no problem with the Guards, who had won seven of their last nine games before Monday. He didn’t allow a hit until Rosario singled with one out in the fifth. Rosario advanced to third on Hedge’s single to short and Anderson’s throwing error, but the next two batters went down in order.

Kopech went six innings, allowing one unearned run, while striking out seven and walking two. The six innings matched a career high done in 2018 against the Tigers.

This was Plesac’s second start against the White Sox this season. On April 21, he held Chicago to one run on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 6-3 win. He struck out five and walked one.

Plesac looked like a different pitcher after the first. He allowed two hits and held Chicago scoreless through the sixth. He left in the seventh after allowing an RBI double to Anderson following Miller’s error at second that allowed Leury Garcia to reach with one out.

Next: RHP Cal Quantrill (1-1, 3.54) vs. RHP Lucas Giolito (1-1, 3.20) Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM and WMMS will carry the game.

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