Kyle Manzardo delivers walk-off hit as Guardians beat Twins 3-2 in series opener

CLEVELAND — Kyle Manzardo and the Guardians stayed hot, and in contention for a postseason berth, Friday night at Progressive Field. Manzardo delivered a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to send Cleveland to a 3-2 win over the Twins, which improved the Guardians to an American League-best 15-6 over their last 21 games. Cleveland entered the night three games out of the race for the final wild card spot. Meanwhile Manzardo extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games, batting .455 (15-for-33) with three home runs, 11 RBIs and a 1.301 OPS over the sizzling stretch. "Kyle's been on the fastball. He's not trying to do too much right now. He's hitting," manager Stephen Vogt said. "We talk a lot about Manzo. There's a lot of expectations for him. He's right where he needs to be. He's swinging the bat great. He's gotten some huge hits for us." After the Twins walked Jose Ramirez intentionally, the left handed-hitting Manzardo lined a 1-1 pitch from lefty Kody Funderburk into left field with one out to score extra runner Brayan Rocchio with the winning run. "I'm just making sure that whenever I'm getting pitches to hit I'm hitting them. That's kind of the main thing going for me right now," the cleanup hitter said. "It's been special," Steven Kwan said of Manzardo's increased production. "I think what people don't understand is that hitting behind Jose is very hard. In those opportunities, they're going to skip right over Jose and go right after him. "Guys can kind of get in their head about that, but I think he's internalized that. Obviously, you saw it tonight. It was a really disciplined at-bat. He didn't go out chasing, saw a couple pitches. A line drive off a guy like that, right over the shortstop's head, it doesn't get any more fundamental than that." Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams deserved a better fate after tossing six scoreless innings and allowing only four hits while striking out eight. He was deprived of the win when, with Cleveland in front 2-0 in the seventh, reliever Hunter Gaddis was charged with a throwing error that scored the game-tying runs. Still, Williams worked into the sixth inning for the eighth time in his last 13 outings. "I've been trying to do that all year," he said. "I know coming off last year, I barely got to the fifth inning, so as much as I can go deeper in games, it helps the pen for the next day and it saves those guys, too." "I think the confidence has always been there. I think last year I struggled with a lot of things, not throwing strikes and having the injury, but I think it's always been there." Kwan delivered for endearing fans grateful he wasn't dealt at the trade deadline with a line-drive single to left-center in his first at-bat in the opening inning off Twins ace Joe Ryan. He came to the plate to cheers from the crowd of 32,777, a large contingent chanting his name. "It was really special," Kwan said of the reception. "It just reaffirms … love the city, love this organization, love everything that they've offered me. I just really want to win for them and get in the postseason. Once you get in, anything can happen. I think that's our mission right now." Kwan, who moved Rocchio to third on a bunt single in the 10th, also pitched in on defense, throwing out Brooks Lee trying to score from second on a single from Austin Martin to end the third. Kwan scored the game's first run on a base hit from Ramirez, who stole second to reach yet another milestone and continue on a path to the Hall of Fame. Ramirez became the 17th player in major league history to record 275 or more steals and 275 or more home runs in a career. He is just the fourth to accomplish as much for one team, joining Willie Mays (Giants), Ryne Sandberg (Cubs) and Craig Biggio (Astros). Cleveland's offense dried up after Rocchio's single in the second scored the second run, as Ryan retired 14 of the last 15 he faced to keep Minnesota within striking distance. The Guardians came a few feet from winning in walk-off fashion in the ninth when Carlos Santana hit a ball to the wall in center and Rocchio did the same to right to end the inning. Filling in for suspended closer Emmanuel Clase, right-hander Cade Smith worked the final two innings, retiring all six batters he faced while striking out three. He retired the top of the Twins' order without the extra runner advancing past third. "Cade has been efficient. He's been awesome," Vogt said. "For him to get through that first inning in 10 or 11 pitches, it allowed us to send him back out. We just felt like that was our best chance to get through that inning with no runs and man, he was some kind of special." Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.