CLEVELAND -- Kyle Manzardo got a changeup from Tanner Gordon in the third inning on Tuesday that hung out over the middle of the plate. The Guardians’ first baseman did exactly what a hitter is supposed to do with such an offering: send it a long way.
Manzardo crushed a solo homer off Gordon, and he added another solo blast in the sixth versus reliever Jimmy Herget. The 25-year-old’s second career multi-homer game helped lift the Guardians to a 10-4 drubbing of the Rockies at Progressive Field.
It was perhaps a therapeutic night for the Guardians (53-54), especially with the uncertainty of the MLB Trade Deadline looming on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, and after they coughed up a late two-run lead on Monday over the eighth and ninth innings.
Cleveland pounded out 15 hits vs. Colorado on Tuesday, tying its season high set on May 28 vs. the Dodgers. Tuesday's performance included a 3-for-4 showing by Manzardo, who has found his stroke in July, and, more recently, since the All-Star break.
“[I’m] just seeing the ball deep, trying to stay in the middle,” Manzardo said. “Not trying to do too much to the straight pull side and just attacking pitches over the plate.”
In 19 games this month, Manzardo is slashing .288/.358/.576 with two doubles, five homers, 13 RBIs and seven walks with 15 strikeouts. In nine games since the break, he has recorded a .387/.444/.742 slash line with two doubles, three homers, nine RBIs and four walks with 10 strikeouts. He is riding a career-high eight-game hitting streak over that stretch.
Both of Manzardo’s homers were hit to right-center and came off changeups. The latter was a promising sign to Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.
“When you’re on the fastball and it's a bad changeup, you're able to stay through it the way he did,” Vogt said. “Manzo has been outstanding. He's been on the fastball. He's been swinging the bat well. Everything's been great.”
In June, Vogt noted that Manzardo was in-between at the plate during a down period offensively. Over a 20-game stretch from May 21-June 17, Manzardo slashed .169/.229/.262 with one homer, four walks and 16 strikeouts.
Vogt also said last month the way a hitter can get out of being in-between is by being on the fastball. Manzardo has found his groove, and it’s no surprise that he has been hammering heaters. He saw them 49.3 percent of the time last month and has seen them even more in July (57.5 percent), while faring much better.
Manzardo versus fastballs (entering Tuesday):
June: .179/.200/.436 (7-for-39), 25 percent strikeout rate, 19.7 percent whiff rate
July: .276/.382/.517 (8-for-29), 20.6 percent strikeout rate, 24.6 percent whiff rate
“It's just baseball,” Manzardo said. “There’s peaks and valleys. Just trying to stay even-keeled day to day and just trusting my work.”
The big offensive performance backed a strong start by Logan Allen. The lefty allowed two runs on eight hits (including a pair of solo homers) and one walk with three strikeouts. He tossed seven innings (tying his career high) and threw 113 pitches (his new career high).
Allen’s 113 pitches marked the most thrown by a Cleveland starter since Aaron Civale tossed 114 on May 19, 2021.
“Any time we’re doing that for the bullpen, it’s big,” Allen said of pitching through the seventh.
It also figures to be big for Allen, who has continued to be a steady option for Cleveland this season after his inconsistent 2024 campaign (5.73 ERA in 97 1/3 over 20 starts).
Allen has a 4.06 ERA in 108 2/3 innings over 21 games (20 starts) this season. He has pitched into the sixth inning in each of his past 10 starts. One of the biggest differences this year, Allen said, is the confidence in himself.
“Obviously you go through struggles you learn from, learn what to take, the good and the bad,” Allen said. “I’m just trying to go out there and trust the guys behind me to make plays, not trying to nibble around the zone too much, go right after guys. I feel it's led to some more success this year, for sure.”
For as unnerving as this time of year can be with the Deadline, the Guardians maintain that their focus is on the field. We saw that Tuesday.
“We’re worried about the guys we’ve got in the clubhouse right now,” Allen said. “Obviously, if a move happens, it happens, and we'll accept them with open arms. But we're worried about winning games today, and we can't think too far ahead like that.”