CLEVELAND — In the buildup to the Guardians beginning an AL Central series Monday against the Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 win at Progressive Field, Cleveland promoted first baseman Kyle Manzardo and placed left fielder Steven Kwan on the 10-day injured list.
Manzardo batted seventh in his Major League Baseball debut , served as the Guardians' designated hitter and struck out swinging in each of his three at-bats.
Meanwhile, Guardians five-time All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez stole the show by setting the franchise record for go-ahead home runs .
Manzardo, 23, is the Guardians' No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The organization acquired him last summer when it traded starting pitcher Aaron Civale to the Tampa Bay Rays . In 29 games at Triple-A Columbus, Manzardo has hit .303 this season with a 1.017 OPS, nine home runs, 10 doubles and 20 RBIs in 109 at-bats. In 13 spring training games, Manzardo hit .381 with a .934 OPS, two double and two RBIs in 21 at-bats. A Washington State product, Manzardo was a second-round draft pick of the Rays in 2021.
Although Manzardo's MLB debut was highly anticipated, it coincided with a bad break. The Guardians certainly did not want to lose Kwan to the hamstring injury he suffered Saturday in a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels . The Guardians leadoff hitter entered Sunday with an American League-leading 47 hits and .353 batting average. The club announced Kwan will likely miss four weeks .
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First pitch for the Guardians-Tigers game occurred at 6:10 p.m. Monday. Here are our updates as they unfolded throughout the game.
With a one-run lead, the Guardians (23-12) summoned closer Emmanuel Clase for the top of the ninth inning. He worked a one-two-three inning for the save, his 11th this season.
With runners on first and third base and two outs, Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis struck out Wenceel Perez swinging to end the top of the eighth inning. The Guardians maintained a 2-1 lead.
Gaddis replaced Nick Sandlin to begin the eighth inning. Sandlin allowed one hit and struck out one in 1⅓ innings. He earned to win to improve to 3-0 this season.
Ramirez set a franchise record with his 87th career go-ahead home run, giving the club a 2-1 lead against the Tigers (18-17) with his solo shot to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ramirez had previously been tied with Hall of Famer Larry Doby with 86 go-ahead homers.
With one out, Ramirez sent Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty 's 2-2 pitch 345 feet to the foul pole down the right-field line. The homer had an exit velocity of 93.4 mph, according to Baseball Savant.
Ramirez also hit a go-ahead homer Sunday against the Angels.
Manzardo led off the bottom of the fifth inning and worked to a full count in his second MLB at-bat. However, it ended the same way the first one did. Manzardo struck out swinging again against Flaherty, whose record fell to 0-2 this season.
Then in the seventh inning, Manzardo faced Tigers reliever Joey Wentz . But Manzardo didn't have a better outcome against a different pitcher. He struck swinging for the third time.
Wentz replaced Flaherty to begin the bottom of the seventh. Flaherty finished with six hits and two earned runs allowed in six innings. He walked one and struck out six. He threw 101 pitches (66 strikes).
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After Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie allowed a single to Javier Baez and walked Carson Kelly to begin the fifth inning, McKenzie turned into Houdini.
Riley Greene flied out to center field, Mark Canha struck out looking and voiced his displeasure with umpire Ramon De Jesus and Matt Vierling lined out to left field.
McKenzie finished the inning unscathed despite encountering a two-on, no-outs scenario.
It was McKenzie's final inning, too. He finished with an earned run, three hits and three walks allowed, six strikeouts and 83 pitches (50 strikes) in five innings of work. Sam Hentges relieved McKenzie to start the sixth inning.
Sandlin then relieved Hentges with runners on first and second and two outs. Sandlin struck out Baez swinging to end the top of the sixth inning.
Manzardo received cheers when he appeared at the plate for the first time in the second inning. Unfortunately for Manzardo, he didn't have a storybook first at-bat. He struck out swinging against Flaherty.
Filling in for Kwan, Estevan Florial led off with a double against Flaherty. Then with two outs, Josh Naylor drew a walk.
Will Brennan drove in Florial with a two-out, RBI single to right field to tie the score 1-1. Naylor was thrown out during the same play as he attempted to advance from first base to third.
The definition of getting off to a rough start for a pitcher would be allowing a home run on the first pitch of the game. Well, it happened when Tigers designated hitter Riley Greene sent McKenzie's first pitch over the center-field wall for a solo home run and a 1-0 Detroit lead in the first inning.
Greene's 424-foot homer had an exit velocity of 109.8 mph, according to Baseball Savant.
After surrendering the homer, McKenzie struck out the next three batters.
Below is some pregame information.
In addition to calling up Manzardo and putting Kwan on the injured list, the Guardians activated left-handed pitcher Hentges from the 15-day IL and optioned right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki to Triple-A Columbus.
Hentges had been dealing with swelling in his left middle finger. He had spent this season on the IL after four outings this spring, the last of which occurred on March 8. He had been rehabilitating in Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus since April 19, recording six scoreless outings (6 ⅔ inning pitched, two hits allowed, zero runs, seven strikeouts).
Estevan Florial, LF
Andres Gimenez, 2B
Jose Ramirez, 3B
Josh Naylor, 1B
Will Brennan, RF
Bo Naylor , C
Kyle Manzardo, DH
Tyler Freeman , CF
Brayan Rocchio , SS
Riley Greene, DH
Mark Canha, LF
Matt Vierling, 3B
Kerry Carpenter , RF
Spencer Torkelson , 1B
Colt Keith , 2B
Parker Meadows , CF
Javier Baez, SS
Carson Kelly, C
Guardians right-hander McKenzie took the mound opposite Tigers right-hander Flaherty.
McKenzie entered Monday 2-2 this season with a 4.34 ERA in 29 innings. In six starts, he had struck out 24 and walked 18.
Flaherty was 0-1 this season with a 4.00 ERA in 36 innings. In six starts, he had struck out 50 and walked five.
After winning two games in a row against the Angels, the Guardians entered Monday with a record of 22-12 and sitting atop the American League Central standings.
The Minnesota Twins (19-14) and Kansas City Royals (20-15) were 2.5 games behind the Guardians in the division. The Tigers (18-16) were four games back. The Chicago White Sox (8-26) trailed the Guardians by 14 games.
The game was televised by FS1 and Bally Sports Great Lakes. It was broadcast on the radio by WTAM (1100-AM), WMMS (100.7-FM) and WARF (1350-AM, Spanish broadcast).
The Guardians are scheduled to host the Tigers again at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday and 1:10 p.m. Wednesday. Then they will head to Chicago for a four-game series Thursday through Sunday with the White Sox.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich . Beacon Journal sports writer Ryan Lewis contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians' Kyle Manzardo debuts, Jose Ramirez sets go-ahead HR record
