Cleveland Guardians Make History By Scoring Six Times After Three Strikeouts In Eighth Inning

The resilient 2022 Cleveland Guardians are turning this year into a season for the record books.

Etching their mark on history Wednesday, in an improbable 8-4 win over the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland became the first team in MLB history to get struck out three times in any inning, and then go on to score six runs; at least since 1961, as relayed by MLB.com.

Though the AL Central-leading Cleveland team faced pressure to fend off a Minnesota Twins group trailing by one game in the standings, they managed to keep their cool and take what was given to them for the win.

Trailing 4-2, Cleveland found themselves in a pit nearly too deep to escape.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Tigers left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin struck out Cleveland's Owen Miller and Andrés Giménez (foul tip). Luke Maile was next up as the team's few remaining hopes to kickstart a comeback slowly waned.

Maile eventually swung for his third strike but soon realized that the ball escaped Tigers catcher Eric Haase — allowing him to reach first, even if he officially got struck out.

"I couldn't make the block," Haase said after the game. "I'm not trying to be lazy or anything, I just didn't compete the play. That's extremely frustrating, seeing how it played out. ... That's my fault, extending that inning. I just missed the ball."

What ensued after the botched catch was a complete flipping of the script as the Guardians ripped off six scores to gain their promising lead in the eighth.

“It’s the belief we have in each other,” said Guardians rookie Steven Kwan. “Guys were just grinding at-bats out, and it’s the luck of baseball, as weldl.”

Kwan kicked off the spree / comeback with an RBI double. Jose Ramirez followed up Kwan's hit, which nearly landed out of play, with a hit to left field. With an RBI from Oscar Gonzalez and Owen Miller, the Guardians ended up with an 8-4 lead.

"I'm not sure if I've seen that before," shared Andrew Chafin. "I'm frustrated with the results, but how we got there, it's kind of like, 'Well, I did good. Well, no you didn't.' But, I mean, that's baseball. ... It's not a nice game, and it's going to get you like that sometimes."