Johnathan Rodriguez singled home David Fry in the seventh inning for his first major league hit, driving in the go-ahead run for the Cleveland Guardians in a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday.
Rodriguez, playing in his second game since being called up from Triple-A Columbus two days earlier, hit a grounder through the right side of the infield off Reed Garrett (5-1) to break a 3-all tie.
“My focus was to try to hit the ball hard, just to try to help the team,” Rodriguez said through an interpreter. “I was ready to get the job done.”
The 24-year-old right fielder also had a memorable moment in the first inning when he picked up a tiny black bird that landed near him. He gently placed it in his mitt and handed it to a bullpen attendant, who safely took it out of the ballpark.
“I think it was a baby, so I put it in my glove,” Rodriguez said. “It was a little lost. I didn’t want to see it get hurt.”
The AL Central-leading Guardians, who trailed 3-0 going into the sixth, now have the second-best record in the majors at 33-17. Cleveland extended its winning streak to a season-high six and swept the Mets for the first time as a franchise.
José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo added RBI doubles in the eighth against Adam Ottavino. Andrés Giménez started the comeback with a three-run, tying homer in the sixth off New York starter Jose Quintana.
“In my first two at-bats I was seeing everything, so I was kind of ready for it,” Giménez said. “Knowing that we could get something going gave us the energy to do what we knew we could do.”
Hunter Gaddis (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and rookie Cade Smith earned his first save. All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase was unavailable after pitching the previous three days.
“I thought Cade was throwing 120 (mph),” catcher Austin Hedges said. “When he’s throwing 98-plus, that’s as good of a fastball as I’ve caught.”
