CLEVELAND, Ohio — Since the first inning, the bats had fallen silent. The Guardians’ offense turned every at-bat into a test of patience and frustration.

The crowd at Progressive Field simmered, restless, sensing the weight of a playoff berth dangling just out of reach on Saturday.

And then came the top of the eighth inning. A sequence that threatened disaster, only to flip into the kind of moment that sticks to a postseason run like glue.

Cade Smith, summoned into a tie game with one out, threw his first pitch. Routine. Josh Jung rolled it over to shortstop Gabriel Arias, who smoothly started what should have been an inning-ending double play. Arias to Brayan Rocchio for one — clean. The crowd surged with anticipation. Then chaos.

Rocchio’s relay banged out of Jhonkensy Noel’s glove a

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