CLEVELAND -- When the Guardians have needed a hero this season, Brayan Rocchio has answered the call.
The shortstop did it again Tuesday night, walking off the Chicago White Sox with a two-out, two-strike base hit down the left-field line in the ninth inning that plated two runs and turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 Cleveland win.
"I didn't try to do something special in that moment," Rocchio said. "I just tried to put the bat to the ball and see what happens."
It was Rocchio's major league-best fourth walk-off hit this season. And they've all come against AL Central foes, including two now against Chicago and its flamethrowing reliever Grant Taylor (he took the right-hander deep in July).
"He thrives in that moment," teammate Travis Bazzana said of Rocchio. "He's so in control. You feel like the pitcher is at a disadvantage."
Taylor already had given up a hit and a walk in the ninth inning. Rocchio then stepped up and hit a high, 100 mph fastball on an 0-2 count down the left-field line. Rookie Sam Antonacci took a poor route to the ball and it fell just out of his reach, allowing Daniel Schneemann and David Fry to score.
"Pretty dogs---, to be honest," Antonacci said of it. "Just have to clean it up. It's the big leagues. You can't make those types of routes in that position."
Bedlam ensued on the field as the Guardians knew how important the win meant to their playoff hopes. They're back within a half-game of the first-place White Sox as the teams play the season series finale Wednesday.
"It's like last year in September," closer Cade Smith said. "Where we were playing playoff games for the whole month and a half before the end of the regular season. It's been similar for us here."
Last season, the Guardians were 11 games back of first place in early September only to overtake the Detroit Tigers for the division crown. This season, they were six games behind the White Sox a month ago but have since closed the gap. Since the White Sox own the tiebreaker, Cleveland will need to leapfrog them to win another division title.
"These games are meaningful," Smith said. "They matter a lot."
Expect Rocchio to keep getting chances in big moments. His four walk-off hits against division opponents are tied for the most in a season in the past 50 years. He's the first player to have multiple come-from-behind walk-off hits against the same pitcher in a season since 1930.
So it came as no surprise that Guardians fans were chanting his name when he came to the plate Tuesday. It inspired him to deliver yet another game-winning hit, this time in a crucial September series.
"That's the best thing ever in my life," Rocchio said of the chants. "I can't disappoint the crowd when they are doing that."