CLEVELAND — On a 3-1 count in the sixth inning, with two Guardians on base and Cleveland trailing by a run, Petey Halpin did what September is designed to sort out quickly: the 24-year-old center fielder drove a Sean Newcomb sinker 393 feet to right-center field, and the AL Central race shifted in real time.
The three-run blast off Newcomb flipped a 3-2 White Sox lead to a 5-3 Guardians advantage and held up. Cleveland won 6-3 at Progressive Field on Wednesday, moved into sole possession of first place in the AL Central for the first time since July 3, and now sits a half-game ahead of Chicago (77-75) with nine games remaining for the Guardians and ten for the White Sox.
The weight of that half-game was not lost on anyone in the building. Halpin is a rookie, one who made his major-league debut on September 20 last year. He entered Wednesday hitting .220 with eight home runs. None of that prepared you for the ninth, against a veteran left-hander who had the count and the platoon advantage.
“That’s what I’ve been working toward all year,” Halpin said after the final out. “Big moment, big at-bat. I just stayed on the ball.”
Parker Messick gave the Guardians a reason to be in the game at all. The left-hander had Cleveland in front 2-0 heading into the fifth, a lead built on a Jose Ramirez RBI double in the third and a Jo Adell run-scoring single later in the inning. What Messick could not control was Tommy Pham. The veteran outfielder, activated off the injured list earlier in the week, caught a Messick offering and drove it over the fence for a three-run shot that put Chicago up 3-2.
It lasted about 90 minutes.
Messick steadied after the Pham homer, finished with eight strikeouts across six innings and picked up his 12th win of the year. His ability to absorb the blow without unraveling was what kept Cleveland alive long enough for the lineup to answer. The Guardians bullpen handled the final three frames, with Emmanuel Clase locking down the ninth.
Jo Adell opened the sixth with a walk against Newcomb. Ramirez, who has been the engine of this offense all season, doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Newcomb had Halpin exactly where he wanted him: young, left-on-left, a rookie with eight career home runs. Halpin sent the sinker 393 feet to right-center. The Guardians led 5-3, and the inning was done.
“He’s been growing all year,” manager Stephen Vogt said of his center fielder. “Moments like tonight, that’s what we brought him up for.”
Vogt’s patience with Halpin through an uneven season, the stretches of inconsistency and the .220 batting average, began to look prescient the moment the ball cleared the wall. The Guardians needed Halpin to grow into this. September arrived before many expected him to be ready, and he delivered anyway.
The Guardians are chasing their third consecutive AL Central title, and this race has been a grinding half-game-here, half-game-there affair since August. The Blue Jays and Orioles lurk below in the wild-card bracket, which means a stumble by either Cleveland or Chicago carries extra cost. As Yahoo Sports reported, Wednesday was the first time Cleveland held sole possession of first place since July 3. The AL picture has been sharpening all month, and the Schlittler-era Yankees shutting out the Mets earlier this week was a reminder of what October competition will look like in the American League.
Cleveland’s formula is not complicated: Ramirez driving in runs, Messick absorbing punishment and still getting wins, a bullpen that closes what the rotation leaves open, and a rookie center fielder who has turned into a September weapon. The Guardians are 78-75. They have nine games to play. The lead is half a game.
The series with Chicago continues Thursday. The White Sox are not done, and the schedule ahead for both clubs is unforgiving. But the Guardians will take the overnight lead, and on a night when the moment found Petey Halpin, he was equal to it.
Halpin’s home run traveled 393 feet. By October, it may cover considerably more ground than that.
