Guardians Beat Tigers to Force Game 3 as 5-Run 8th Inning Thrills MLB Fans

The Cleveland Guardians are still alive, thanks to an unlikely hero, a wild eighth inning and a fantastic effort from the bullpen.

Brayan Rocchio's go-ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth inning was the pivotal moment in the team's 6-1 victory in Game 2 of the Wild Card Round matchup against the Detroit Tigers.

Daniel Schneemann's double later in the inning and Bo Naylor's three-run blast added plenty of insurance for the Guardians, and Cade Smith closed the door in the ninth—though not without drama, as he loaded the bases with two outs—forcing a Game 3 on Thursday.

But it was Rocchio—who had all of five homers this season, and 13 for his career—who had social media absolutely buzzing:

Rocchio doesn't offer much pop in the regular season, but he was fantastic for the Guardians in last year's playoffs, hitting .333 with a homer, two RBI, four runs and a .906 across 10 games.

He also provided some flare on the same day the team clinched the AL Central crown last week, blasting a three-run homer in extra innings against the Texas Rangers. It was the culmination of the team going from a 15.5-game deficit to the Tigers in July to eventually claiming the division crown.

The bottom of the eighth inning was a pretty major departure from the rest of Wednesday's game (and frankly, the rest of the series to this point).

The Guardians took an early lead on George Valera's homer, juicing the crowd after Game 1's 2-1 loss:

Detroit tied the game in the fourth inning on Javy Báez's RBI single, though it looked as though the Tigers had taken a 2-1 lead after Zach McKinstry was initially ruled safe at third. Reviews determined that he was out, however, which took place before the second run had scored on Báez's single, ending the inning.

Interestingly, neither starting pitcher went deep in this one. Cleveland's Tanner Bibee was pulled after 4.2 innings and 87 pitches after giving up five hits, three walks and a run, though he did strike out six.

The Tigers had an even quicker hook for Casey Mize, who was pulled after three innings and 62 pitches despite giving up just a hit (he did walk two batters).

It was Cleveland's bullpen that answered the call, however, allowing no runs, two hits and three walks in 5.1 innings. The Tigers will surely rue finishing 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

It all set the stage for Rocchio and the lineup to finally wake up in the bottom of the eighth. Bring on Game 3.