Emmanuel Clase picked up his record-shattering 47th save as the Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Cincinnati Reds 5-2 last night.

This wasn’t his usual blow-away performance, as Clase loaded the bases in the ninth before finishing off the Reds with a fielder’s choice ground ball.

Clase had shared the record with Jose Mesa of the 1995 Cleveland Indians.

WELCOME BACK

Steven Kwan returned to the Guardians lineup from a back injury and belted his 14th home run in the first inning.

Josh Naylor picked up his 108th RBI with a single to score Jose Ramirez in the fourth inning.

Meanwhile, Cleveland had a perfect game going through the first six innings, as Andrew Walters, Erik Sabrowski, Cade Smith and Eli Morgan retired the first 18 Reds batters.

AN ACT OF BASEBALL COWARDICE

The Reds’ TJ Friedl broke up the “perfect bullpen game” when he started the seventh with a bunt single off Tim Herrin.

A bunt to break up a perfect game? What did the fans think of that?

“Boooooooooooo…”

Friedl scored on an error by Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez.

In the eighth inning, an error by Cleveland center fielder Lane Thomas scored Santiago Espinal with the tying run.

Jose Ramirez came to the rescue in the bottom of the eighth, blasting a three-run homer to set up Clase’s record-breaking save.

Ramirez has 38 homers and 115 RBI. He is trying to join the 40/40 Club (homers and steals).

Ramirez almost homered earlier in the game but had to settle for a triple. He hit his 38th double, too.

FINAL SERIES

The Guardians have the day off before finishing the regular season with a three-game home series against the Houston Astros.

Cleveland is a half-game behind the New York Yankees. The Guardians need to finish the season a game ahead of the Bronx Bombers to win home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.