CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Will Brennan has aspired to step to plate in a Big League ballpark for as long as he can remember.
“This is my childhood dream, I’ve always wanted this,” Brennan said.
Brennan smacked a triple to lead off the game, scoring on a SAC fly by Amed Rosario and followed up with a three-run home run an inning later to spark a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive field.
“I think the organization really prepares us well to come into this situation of craziness, and come in here prepared, have a low heartbeat and get the job done,” Brennan said.
The Guardians are down to their final three games of the season and are using the remaining days of the regular season to fine-tune things for the post-season that begins Friday. Part of that includes getting guys like Brennan and Bo Naylor at-bats at the Big League level.
But these aren’t just throw-away plate appearances, as the Guardians fully intend for Brennan to be a part of their playoff push.
“There’s a reason we called him up when we did, which is a pretty big compliment to him,” said manager Terry Francona. “We felt like he could help us moving forward when there’s only three weeks left in the season.”
Since being called up on September 21st, Brennan has hit .333 (9-for-27) with 4 RBIs and Sunday’s homer.
“It’s a real test, I’ll tell you that much. I stated the year in Akron, I didn’t think I was going to be up here,” Brennan said. “I was just going to have a good year at every level that I was at and try and help them win.”
The Guardians jumped on the Royals early, but the bullpen made things interesting after the offense spotted them a 7-0 lead. Josh Naylor matched Brennan’s power surge with a three-run blast of his own as the G’s belted out six runs in the 2nd inning.
Brennan went 2-for-5 on the day while Naylor went 2-for-3 before being lifted in favor of Owen Miller late in the game.
“I think it helps that you have some veteran guys that, on my day off, you can pick their brain ad learn from them,”
A stiff breeze was blowing in from center field all afternoon. While the conditions didn’t seem to affect starter Shane Bieber, the pitching staff could encounter similar weather when the playoff start Friday.
A slick ball and high winds don’t make for an easy day at the ballpark, and whatever the reason, the Royals to scratch their way back into the game.
“That might be like that Friday, so I hope we make some adjustments,” Francona said. “Maybe we can get it out of our system, as well.”
Kansas City scored a pair of runs in the 5th inning, a run in the 7th inning and two more runs in the 8th inning to raise some eyebrows in an otherwise meaningless game. But Trevor Stephan worked out of a bases loaded jam in the 8th and Emmanuel Clase nailed down his MLB leading 41st save of the season to give Cleveland its fifth 90-win season since 2016.
“We're still trying to win ballgames. We want to win outright and continue to finish the season on a high note,” Bieber said.