CLEVELAND, Ohio — A charter member of the American League in 1901, it took Cleveland 124 years to hit its 14,000th home run as a franchise.
For Nolan Jones, it only felt like 124 years since his last homer — a span of 142 at-bats reaching back to June 13 in Seattle. But the significance of Wednesday’s solo blast off Tampa Bay’s Pete Fairbanks was twofold. It made Cleveland the sixth AL club to reach the 14K homer mark, and it propelled his club away from certain defeat, toward a 4-3 walk-off victory in 10 innings against the Rays.
Cleveland joins the Athletics, Baltimore, Detroit, Boston and Yankees as AL clubs with at least 14K round-trippers. For Jones, it was just his fourth home run this season and first at Progressive Field since April 27.
“There’s no better feeling in the world,” Jones said afterward. “Hitting a home run, getting to trot around the bases … is the best feeling in the world.”
The blast came during what has been a challenging season for Jones, who entered Wednesday batting .215 with a .614 OPS in 298 at-bats. This follows an injury plagued 2024 year with the Rockies that led to his return to the club that drafted him in the second round in 2016.
After a breakout 2023 campaign with Colorado where he hit .297 with 20 home runs and 62 RBI, Jones had high hopes to help lead the Guardians back to the playoffs when he joined the club.
“I’ve struggled in the big leagues before,” Jones said. “Obviously I had big plans to have a bounce back year and help this club win, and that hasn’t been the case in a lot of ways.”
He acknowledged his own struggles, but remains focused on contributing when opportunities arise.
“As athletes, every moment is a moment for us to shine and to be the guy,” Jones said. “For myself, when opportunities have been limited, I put more pressure on those opportunities that I do get. Just relying on the work that I’ve done. I ran into one today, so it felt great (today).”
Jones said that he believes in his teammates in the Guardians clubhouse, but admitted to frustration that all of the work that he puts in on making adjustments to his approach at the plate have not yielded more results.
Cleveland Guardians right fielder Nolan Jones connects on a solo homer off Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Pete Fairbanks to tie the game in the ninth inning at Progressive Field. John Kuntz, cleveland.com
“I would like to say that I work my butt off every single day on both sides of the ball and my opportunities have been a little more limited recently, but when I get those opportunities, I try to do what I can to take advantage of them and help this team win,” Jones said. “I get it. It’s been a tough year for me. But I’m just trying to stay positive and rely on the guys.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt recognized that every player puts pressure on himself in different ways, and Jones is no different.
“Nolan’s extremely hard on himself,” Vogt said. “He works his backside off. He cares so much, a little too much at times. That homer today, the two-hit game can really release a lot of pressure.”
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