Australian baseball young gun Travis Bazzana has picked up two walks and scored twice as Cleveland broke out the bats at last and kept their season alive.
The Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox away 9-3 on Thursday (AEDT) to avoid a sweep in their American League Division Series.
Cleveland racked up 11 hits in game three, after only managing three runs and seven hits combined over the first two games in the best-of-five series.
Bazzana had a double in game one, his only hit of the series so far.
Cleveland were trailling 1-0 in the top of the third inning of game three when Bazzana picked up his first walk.
The Australian second base then opened the Guardians' scoring on Steven Kwan's one-out single to left.
With two out in the same inning, Jo Adell hit a three-run triple to power Cleveland ahead 4-1.
Jose Ramirez's two-out triple in the eighth scored Bazzana and Patrick Bailey for a 7-3 lead.
The Guardians hit two triples in a post-season game for the first time in franchise history.
They became the first major league team to accomplish the feat since the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one off the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees.
Chicago had won their first four games in a surprising post-season appearance after a horrendous 60-102 record last year.
They were backed by a frenzied crowd of 40,590 for the White Sox's first home playoff game since 2021.
Foster Griffin set a Cleveland record for a relief pitcher with seven strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed one run and two hits and picked up the win in his first appearance since September 23.
"Once we got the momentum going on our side, it was tough to stop it," said Griffin, who was traded from Washington in August.
Ramirez broke out of his 0-6 slump in this series to lead Cleveland's fightback win.
The third base had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice.
Ramirez, a seven-time all star, also made a diving stop on Miguel Vargas’ bases-loaded smash in the sixth inning, preserving Cleveland’s 5-3 advantage.
The Guardians beat the White Sox by one game to claim the AL Central division.
The White Sox then swept Houston 2-0 in their wildcard series to meet Cleveland, with game four in Chicago on Friday (AEDT).
The winner will meet Tampa Bay in the AL Championship Series, after the Rays beat the Yankees 4-3 for a three-game sweep, with the World Series to follow.
In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 to set up showdown with the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who saw off the Atlanta Braves 4-1 for a 3-1 series victory of their own.
With The AP.
