Guardians rally past Mets to complete sweep with season-high sixth straight win

CLEVELAND — The fans were out, the sun was shining and the Guardians kept the good times rolling against Francisco Lindor and the Mets at Progressive Field on Wednesday afternoon. Andres Gimenez hit a game-tying home run against his former team in the sixth inning and rookie Johnathan Rodriguez scored the go-ahead run with his first career hit in the seventh as Cleveland completed its first sweep of New York with a 6-3 victory. Gimenez, who was acquired in a trade for Lindor in 2021, snapped an 0-for-19 skid against the Mets, helping the Guardians rally from a 3-0 deficit after five innings to secure their season-high sixth straight win. "Gimi's been solid for us all year and, obviously, he's one of our best hitters, one of our best players," manager Stephen Vogt said. "It always feels good to get your former team, so I was really happy for him in that moment." "Personally, I feel like I closed that chapter already," Gimenez said through an interpreter. "The important part is what we did as a team." What the Guardians did as a team was win their seventh straight at Progressive Field to improve to a major league-best 18-6 at home. They matched the Yankees for the best record (33-17) in the American League with their ninth win in 10 games, improving to 12-4 in series with their fourth sweep. Mets starter Jose Quintana shut down Cleveland on one hit over the first five innings and got the first out in the sixth when backup catcher Austin Hedges surprised everyone with a bunt single that rolled to a stop just inside the third-base line. It seemed to breathe life into the Guardians, who got Gimenez's three-run homer three batters later. "Austin Hedges is the heart and soul of this team, and when he did that, it woke our dugout up," Vogt said. "He finds a way to get the boys going, no matter whether it's with the bat, behind the plate, in the dugout, in the clubhouse. It's just what he does. That bunt meant the world for us today. That's probably the biggest factor that led to the comeback." "I didn't fully convince myself that I was going to bunt until probably he was halfway through his windup," Hedges said. "I like to do it with no outs, but the third baseman was playing on the outfield grass and I was like, 'If I just get this ball past Quintana, let's just find a way to get on base, flip the lineup over.'" Guardians starter Triston McKenzie allowed three solo homers within the first four innings and nearly touched off an incident when he hit Harrison Bader with a pitch one batter after allowing a homer to Jeff McNeil in the second. Bader took exception, staring at McKenzie and shrugging his shoulders at the pitcher before heading to first. "I'm not surprised," Vogt said of Bader's reaction. "Anytime there's a home run and you get hit with the next pitch, you always wonder. I thought (Mets manager) Carlos Mendoza did a great job of coming out and diffusing the situation right away. Those things can get away from us, and it didn't." McKenzie did not address the situation after the game, and Bader got even in his next at-bat with the third homer off the right-hander. So did Quintana, who hit David Fry to start the fifth, and Adam Ottavino, who hit Gimenez in the eighth. McKenzie left the game in good hands after departing, with four relievers shutting out the Mets on three hits while striking out six. Closer Emmanuel Clase was unavailable for the ninth after pitching three straight days, so Cleveland employed right-hander Cade Smith, who struck out two of the four batters he faced for his first career save. "I can't talk about this bullpen enough," Vogt said. "They take the ball whenever and against whomever. It's really special what this group can do. It doesn't matter what the situation is they're ready to go. We were thin today with how we had to use the bullpen. All four of those guys stepped up huge."Cade, that was electric that stuff in the ninth inning. That's the best we've seen him. Every time we test a kid, Cade, (Hunter Gaddis), all of these guys that are new to the bullpen, they just answer." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.