BOSTON — The team tied for the most wins in Major League Baseball is absolutely having the most fun while doing it.
After battling back to win in extra innings for the second time in their last three games, manager Stephen Vogt put it plainly: The Guardians are for real.
“This group of guys doesn’t quit and they keep fighting,” Vogt said. “They believe in each other, they root for each other. We’ve got something special brewing right now and the guys feel it.”
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Vogt’s club matched the Yankees and Dodgers with its 12th win and is ahead of both for baseball’s best winning percentage (.700). Tuesday’s 10-7 win in 11 innings marked the Guardians’ third victory in their final at-bat and fourth in a game decided in the seventh inning or later. They are 3-0 in extra-inning games.
Cleveland has the best road record in the majors at 9-2, matching the 1948 club for most road wins through their first 11 games away from home.
Six days after rallying from a five-run deficit for the second straight game against the White Sox, confidence continues to grow among Guardians players.
“We’re a resilient group, we believe in each other a lot,” Josh Naylor said after that comeback win against Chicago. “We take pride in our bats, take pride in playing the whole entire game all the way through. I think that’s what makes us a great team.”
Bo Naylor said the club welcomes any challenge. Even if that means rallying no matter how late or how big the deficit.
“When you have odds like that against you, I feel like this group does get fired up and want to get the job done that much more,” Bo Naylor said. “It speaks volumes to the culture that this team has created and just how we go out there and fight every at bat, every inning and every pitch.”
Tuesday’s starting pitcher, Tanner Bibee, said even when the Guardians bullpen gives away a big lead like it did against the Red Sox, the club’s foundation was not shaken.
“The dugout is always going to be full of energy,” Bibee said. “Throughout the seventh, eight and ninth, that’s kind when we thrive. That’s kind when other teams maybe get a little tired. But we bring the energy up a little bit.”
Scott Barlow, who picked up his first save in a Cleveland uniform with two strikeouts in the 11th against Boston, said the sense of camaraderie in among his teammates has made the first 17 games a lot of fun.
“It’s coming together as a team,” Barlow said. “The attitude we’re taking into every game, whether it’s on the road or at home, there’s just a resilience and a sense of never backing down. Anything can happen. And it’s been really fun.”
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