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Guardians Amusingly Roasted Reds For Breaking Up Perfect Game With Bunt

The Guardians bullpen took a perfect game into the top of the seventh inning before it was broken up by Cincinnati.

Tim Capurso

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Tim Herrin delivers a pitch as Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl squares to bunt during the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday's game at Progressive Field.
Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Tim Herrin delivers a pitch as Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl squares to bunt during the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday's game at Progressive Field. / Screengrab Twitter @CleGuardians

The Clevelend Guardians social media team had a little fun during the club's 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

After clinching a first-round bye in the postseason, the Guardians changed up their pitching plans and went with a bullpen game for Wednesday's contest. The Guardians' deep bullpen, paced by opener Andrew Walters, was more than ready for the task.

Using four different pitchers, Cleveland had a perfect game heading into the seventh inning, when they sent out their fifth pitcher of the game, lefthander Tim Herrin.

Reds outfielder TJ Friedl, the leadoff hitter in the seventh inning, squared to bunt as Herrin delivered an 88 MPH slider on the first pitch of the at-bat. Friedl laid down a beauty of a bunt, reaching base safely for the first hit of the game, thus breaking up Cleveland's perfect game.

The fans at Progressive Field were not happy, as they rained down boos on Friedl and the Reds.

Similarly unhappy was the Guardians' social media team, which took to X (formerly Twitter) to playfully roast the "Kentucky Reds" for ruining the perfect game with a bunt.

Too funny.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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