CINCINNATI -- Kyle Manzardo needed a moment like this. Whether he could have predicted how it happened, the Guardians’ first baseman will take it.
Mired in a deep slump offensively, Manzardo belted his first career grand slam on Tuesday, to help the Guardians snap their season-high five-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Reds in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Great American Ball Park. Ironically, it couldn’t have happened without a successful challenge by Cincinnati that forced his at-bat to continue.
Coolest challenge to ever go against him, perhaps?
“Yeah,” Manzardo said with a chuckle. “That's definitely the one that worked out best for me.”
Manzardo came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning. The 26-year-old was down 1-2 in the count to Reds starter Chase Burns, who fired a 98.8 mph four-seamer up and in. It appeared to hit Manzardo on his right hand, and home-plate umpire Alfonso Márquez ruled as such.
Manzardo took first base while Steven Kwan came in from third to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead. It was short lived. Reds manager Terry Francona challenged the hit-by-pitch call and successfully got it overturned. Manzardo (who confirmed postgame he was hit by the pitch) was called back to the batter’s box, where a 2-2 count awaited him.
“It's just one of those things where you get back into that competitive mindset and try to make something happen for us,” Manzardo said.
Those moments have been tough to come by for Manzardo lately. He entered Tuesday with just one home run this month, on Wednesday against the Twins. Over 20 games, he had gone 8-for-62 with five walks and 23 strikeouts, which amounted to a .129/.206/.210 slash line.
Manzardo called the stretch “a struggle.” He said he’s fouled off pitches that he crushes when things are going well. It’s in line with a recent observation by manager Stephen Vogt, who noted Manzardo has been in-between. Manzardo said he’s been trying to “step into the box with some conviction toward whatever I'm trying to do to that pitcher.”
Manzardo fouled off a 2-2 slider from Burns, who then threw him another. Manzardo hit it a Statcast-projected 369 feet over the right-field wall. It landed on the netting above Cleveland’s bullpen, in which Guardians relievers ecstatically celebrated up against the fence.
With one swing, the Guardians put more runs on the board than they did all weekend in a three-game sweep to the Rays.
“We needed that in the worst kind of way,” Vogt said.
“To get us some on the board early there,” Manzardo said, “I think gives everybody a little peace of mind going through the rest of the game.”
The recent returns of José Ramírez and Angel Martínez from the injured list were welcomed boosts for the Guardians’ lineup. But their lineup desperately needs Manzardo (who belted 27 homers in 2025) to find his way and get back to being a force in the middle of the order.
Perhaps Tuesday's slam, unforeseen as it was, will prove to be a step in that direction. It at least gave Manzardo the Guardians’ team lead in home runs, with 12.
Ramírez, Brayan Rocchio and Martínez each came up big after Manzardo’s slam. The Reds erased the Guardians’ early lead, taking a 5-4 lead with a four-run fourth inning. Ramírez took matters into his own hands in the fifth.
Ramírez hit a one-out single in the fifth. He stole second and third base on the ensuing two pitches. Two pitches later, he scored on Chase DeLauter’s game-tying sac fly.
“We're spoiled because we get to watch him do that, but he legitimately said, ‘I'm going to get a run for us,’” Vogt said of Ramírez. “He's done that a number of times over the course of his career. You can just tell when he gets into, ‘I'm going to produce a run’ mode, and you can't really stop him.”
DeLauter scored the go-ahead run in the eighth. He hit a one-out single, advanced to third on a Travis Bazzana base hit and scored on Rocchio's safety-squeeze bunt.
Martínez made a game-ending diving catch in the ninth, to secure Cade Smith’s MLB-leading 30th save, on a line drive hit by Sal Stewart. Elly De La Cruz was on first base and almost assuredly would have scored the tying run had it got by Martínez.
“We shag a lot in practice,” Martínez said. “When the game comes, it’s just react. That’s what I did.”
And the Guardians reacted with a sigh of relief after picking up a much-needed win.