CLEVELAND -- Travis Bazzana disposed of his bat and broke out of the batter’s box in a sprint. As he reached first base, he settled into the first of what the Cleveland faithful hopes will be many trots around the bases over the next decade-plus.
Bazzana belted his first career home run on Friday, in his ninth career big league game, to help send the Guardians to a 6-4 win over the Twins at Progressive Field. The 23-year-old and 2024 No. 1 overall Draft pick's two-run shot capped off Cleveland's four-run first inning in the opener of the three-game series.
Bazzana (MLB Pipeline’s No. 13 overall prospect) worked a 1-1 count against Twins starter Connor Prielipp. The lefty delivered Bazzana a slider, and he hit it a Statcast-projected 427 feet at 102.3 mph, with the ball landing just in front of the visiting bullpen beyond the right-center-field wall. Bazzana was only a few feet out of the batter's box when he emphatically pumped his fists and let out an emphatic yell.
Bazzana finished the night 1-for-4 while putting his savvy baserunning on display. He reached on a fielder's choice while avoiding a potential double play in the eighth, beating out a throw to first base by shortstop Brooks Lee. Bazzana then stole second and third base, before he scored on an Austin Hedges infield single.
Bazzana entered Friday hitting .192 (5-for-26) through his first eight big league games, but he also carried a .382 on-base percentage behind seven walks in 34 plate appearances. He’s now recorded a hit in five of his past six games.
Fellow Guardians rookie Parker Messick allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings while scattering seven hits and one walk. He struck out seven. Steven Kwan went 2-for-3 with one double, two walks and two runs scored. He scored an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single by José Ramírez, who went 2-for-4.