Kwan's go-ahead single in 8th sends Guardians to win over Orioles

CLEVELAND — Steven Kwan singled home Bo Naylor with two outs in the eighth inning for the go-ahead run, lifting the Cleveland Guardians to a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. Naylor was on second base when Kwan lined a pitch from Colin Selby (0-2) into left field. Colton Cowser fielded it cleanly, but his throw to catcher Alex Jackson was well off the mark, allowing Naylor to score. Hunter Gaddis (1-1) pitched a clean eighth for the win and Emmanuel Clase earned his 23rd save in 27 opportunities. The Guardians have won 11 of their last 13 games — immediately after losing 10 straight — to move back into the AL wild-card race. Jackson Holliday homered for the Orioles leading off the sixth against Slade Cecconi, tying the game at 2. Ryan O'Hearn opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, plating Jordan Westburg. The Guardians took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Kyle Manzardo's single that scored Kwan and José Ramírez. They were the only runs allowed by Zach Eflin, who worked five innings after being sidelined since June 28 with lower back discomfort. Selby also lost the series opener for Baltimore, which has dropped seven of eight and is 1-5 on its road trip. The Orioles have been outscored 19-10 in losing the first three games of the four-game set. Key momentAfter Daniel Schneeman and Brayan Rocchio both flied out in the eighth, Naylor doubled to keep the inning going for Kwan. It was just his 15th hit in 94 at-bats since June 1. Key statEflin was activated from the injured list and retired his first nine batters. The right-hander had allowed 17 earned runs and 27 hits over his previous nine innings before getting hurt. Up nextOrioles RHP Charlie Morton (5-8, 5.58 ERA) faces Guardians LHP Logan Allen (6-8, 4.06) in the series finale Thursday. OF prospect DeLauter has surgery on wrist Outfielder Chase DeLauter, widely considered one of the top prospects in the Cleveland Guardians organization, had surgery Wednesday to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist. DeLauter is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, which means he could be back for the last week or two of the season. He was examined Tuesday by wrist/hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham at Jefferson Orthopedics in Philadelphia. A MRI and clinical exam confirmed a hook of the hamate fracture and surgery was recommended. DeLauter has not played since July 12. He was batting .278 with eight doubles, five homers and 21 RBI in 34 games at Triple-A Columbus. The 2022 first-round draft pick reached base in all 34 games he played for the Clippers, which led to some wondering when he might be called up. But DeLauter has struggled to stay on the field. He had three stints on the injured list last year and missed the first couple months of this season because of a sports hernia injury he suffered in spring training.