Continued success against the Minnesota Twins has the Cleveland Guardians on the verge of clinching a playoff berth.
After rallying to beat the visiting Twins in the opener of this four-game set, the Guardians try for their fourth consecutive victory Tuesday night.
Kyle Manzardo, amid a second big-league stint during his first major league season, clubbed a two-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning off Griffin Jax on Monday to send the AL Central-leading Guardians (87-64) to a 4-3 victory. Cleveland’s magic number to clinch a postseason berth sits at two games.
“These guys have stepped up night after night all year long,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who got a bit emotional while addressing the media following Monday’s victory.
“They want to win.”
Manzardo, meanwhile, was playing in his 43rd career game. All three of his big-league home runs have been hit this month.
“It’s a big series, division rival,” Manzardo said. “Keep this thing rolling.”
The Guardians have rolled over the Twins (79-71) this season, going 8-2 against their division rival. Minnesota currently owns the AL’s final wild-card spot, but is mired in a 9-18 stretch.
On Monday, the Twins did all their scoring in the third inning to lead 3-0. However, they stranded 10 runners on the night and managed three hits against five Cleveland relievers.
“Tough game overall, obviously,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We have to do more than that.”
Scheduled Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (3-9, 5.23 ERA) allowed a run on four hits, with one walk, in six innings of a 2-1 road victory on Aug. 10.
However, the right-hander looks to avoid a third consecutive losing start after allowing eight runs, nine hits and five walks over six innings in his last two outings. Williams surrendered three of those runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of last Thursday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay.
“When Gavin has had outings where he’s getting hit hard, it’s typically when he’s behind in the count,” Vogt said. “The games where he’s really shown who he is, he’s getting ahead with all of his pitches and he’s able to execute.”
If Williams gets in trouble, he’ll likely be picked up by Cleveland’s MLB-best bullpen that threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings Monday and is 3-0 with a 0.28 ERA in the last seven games. Leading the way is closer Emmanuel Clase, who tied a franchise record with his 46th save Monday.
The Guardians will get their first look at scheduled Minnesota starter Zebby Matthews (1-3, 7.11 ERA), who went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his first three major league starts after debuting Aug. 13. However, the right-hander is 0-2 and has yielded 15 earned runs on 25 hits, including six homers, in 10 1/3 innings in the last three starts.
On Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, Matthews allowed a pair of solo homers, three other hits and walked two before exiting after 3 1/3 innings of the Twins’ 6-4 victory.
With two hits Monday, Minnesota’s Kyle Farmer is 10-for-23 in his last eight games.
Angel Martinez, another promising Cleveland rookie, had three hits in the series opener. Recalled from the minors over the weekend with injured star Steven Kwan (back) out the last four games, Martinez is 5-for-7 in the last two contests.
–Field Level Media