Want to make some life-changing money in short order betting sports? Apparently just start firing in-game wagers on Major League Baseball teams trailing by six runs in the ninth inning. It worked for New York Mets backers last week and Cleveland Guardians bettors Monday night.
Facing an 8-2 deficit in Chicago, the Guardians rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game, then tacked on three more in the 11th to steal a 12-9 victory that stunned the White Sox — and everyone who bet on the White Sox. Chicago was priced between -185 and -220 on the money line — a number that had skyrocketed into five digits by the time the ninth inning started.
First baseman Josh Naylor was a one-man wrecking crew for Cleveland. He hit a game-tying grand slam with two outs in the ninth, then followed with a game-winning three-run blast in the 11th.
It was the second time in five days that a visiting team faced a six-run deficit entering its final at-bat, only to rally for an improbable win. On Thursday, the New York Mets scored seven runs in the top of the ninth at Philadelphia to turn a 7-1 deficit into an 8-7 victory.
Show Me The Money
As was the case with the Mets’ miracle win, astute Cleveland Guardians bettors who rolled the dice with an in-game bet prior to the ninth inning cashed a tidy profit. Two of those bettors were FanDuel customers — one a White Sox fan who turned $3 into $153 after grabbing Cleveland at +5000 when the score was 8-4 in the ninth.
The only good thing about that horrendous White Sox game was the live bet I placed when Cleveland scored 2 in the ninth. Would have rather lost the bet, but this takes the sting off a little pic.twitter.com/aa1hygi74f
— Charlie R (@Chuck_3559) May 10, 2022
Another invested $18 at those same +5000 odds and pocketed $927.18.
This bettor took the Guardians when they were +5000 and turned $18 ➡️ $927.18 🤯
Ya gotta respect it 👏
(also, shoutout Josh Naylor)
(via @FNTSYPHILOSOPHY) pic.twitter.com/zKv1rMXkgU
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) May 10, 2022
Anyone sitting on any kind of Guardians ticket after eight innings had to presume that ticket was tantamount to kindling. That’s because White Sox left fielder A.J. Pollock belted a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the eighth to give Chicago a seemingly insurmountable 8-2 lead — insurmountable because Cleveland’s offense was dormant almost the entire night.
In fact, after scoring a run in the top of the first, the Guardians didn’t cross home plate again until the eighth, when Naylor’s flare RBI single trimmed Chicago’s lead to 5-2. So there was no reason to think Cleveland’s bats were going to suddenly wake up, especially after Pollock’s gut-punch home in the bottom of the eighth.
Turns out, the Guardians’ bats woke up at the exact same time Chicago’s bullpen and fielders took a nap.
Let The Rally Begin
Andrés Giménez got things started when led off the ninth with a solo homer off White Sox reliever Tanner Banks to make it 8-4. Ahmed Rosario then singled to left and went to third on Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson’s fielding error. Another fielder error — this one by third baseman Yoán Moncada — allowed Austin Hedges to reach safely, with Rosario coming home to trim the score to 8-5.
Banks remained on the mound and struck out Myles Straw, then got Steven Kwan to hit into a fielder’s choice that forced Hedges at second base. With that, the White Sox appeared to stop the bleeding: three-run lead, two outs, Kwan standing on first base. But then Banks waked Guardians third baseman José Ramírez.
Chicago septuagenarian manager Tony La Russa — at this point up well past his bedtime — finally decided to take the ball from Banks and give it to his stud closer, Liam Hendriks. Except Hendriks wasn’t very studly. He allowed a single to Owen Miller that loaded the bases, then got whiplash turning around after Naylor ripped his first pitch deep over the right-center field wall for a grand slam.
Hendriks finally ended the nightmare by retiring Franmil Reyes on an inning-ending groundout. Moments later, it looked like the right-hander was going to get a cheap blown-save victory when the White Sox loaded the bases on three walks against Cleveland reliever Nick Sandlin. With two outs, Chicago’s Adam Engle ripped a pitch down the third-base line that appeared to be headed to left field for the game-winning hit.
Enter Ramírez. The three-time All-Star dove to his right, gloved the ball and fired a one-hopper wide of first. Naylor stretched as far as he could, barely keeping his foot on the bag to end the inning and send the game into overtime.
Putting A ‘Naylor’ In The Coffin
Cleveland then immediately grabbed a 9-8 lead when Giménez led off the 10th with a double that scored Reyes, who started the inning on second base (thanks to MLB’s goofy extra-innings ghost-runner rule). Chicago got out of the inning without further damage, quickly tied it 9-9 on a fielder’s choice groundout in the bottom of the 10th, then loaded the bases with one out.
However, both Moncada — who was making his season debut after being sidelined with an oblique injury — and José Abreu failed to produce the clutch hit. Both grounded into force outs to kill the rally.
That set the stage for Naylor. With two outs and two on in the top of the 11th, the 24-year-old Canadian did this to Chicago reliever Ryan Burr:
Picked the wrong night to take Josh Naylor U7.5 RBIs.pic.twitter.com/xm4qvH2Tej
— Props (@PropsUS) May 10, 2022
In delivering Cleveland a miraculous victory, Naylor finished with his first career multi-homer game, eight RBI (all in the eighth inning or later), and made MLB history: He’s the first player to ever hit a pair of three-plus-run homers in the ninth inning or later of the same game.
Along the way, he managed to make a couple of nickels for some Cleveland Guardians bettors who never lost faith on a cool Monday night in the Windy City.