Rookie Jhonkensy Noel singled home Josh Naylor with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals, reclaiming sole possession of first place in the AL Central on Wednesday.
The Guardians trailed 5-2 entering the seventh and scored four times to take their first lead of the game. Bo Naylor homered off starter Michael Wacha, while Josh Naylor, Will Brennan and Noel had RBI singles against Lucas Erceg (2-4).
Andrés Giménez tacked on a sacrifice fly in the eighth as Cleveland avoided a four-game sweep in the series with its MLB-leading 37th comeback win. The Guardians had been alone atop the division for 154 days until Kansas City pulled into a tie Tuesday.
“We haven’t looked like ourselves for a while, but that inning, that was us,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “It was such a great response by our guys. Erceg has been very good, but Will came up with a big swing and Big Christmas (Noel) again comes through.”
Kansas City had its seven-game road winning streak snapped and is 23-14 since the All-Star break. The Royals, who have clinched the season tiebreaker over the Guardians, host Cleveland for three games next week.