Kyle Manzardo sharply singled to center off Griffin Jax to score automatic runner Angel Martinez in the 10th inning, giving the Cleveland Guardians a 4-3 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon.
Manzardo’s two-out hit was his third walk-off of the season for the Guardians, which won the final two contests in the three-game series. The Guardians had lost six in a row and had a 28-inning scoreless streak until Tuesday.
Cleveland closer Cade Smith (6-5) pitched a perfect 10th for the win, while Jax (1-7) lost for the second time in two decisions since being acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline.
The Guardians trailed 3-2 in the ninth before Nolan Jones ripped a 428-foot solo homer off Pete Fairbanks. It was Cleveland’s first extra-base hit since Aug. 22 at the Texas Rangers, and the 14,000th home run in franchise history.
Tampa Bay had built a 3-1 lead on Brandon Lowe’s two-run homer in the third against Slade Cecconi, which scored Yandy Diaz. Steven Kwan’s RBI single in the fifth off Drew Rasmussen plated Will Wilson and pulled the Guardians within 3-2.
Rasmussen struck out five over six innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The first-time All-Star hasn’t lost since June 19 against the Baltimore Orioles and is 4-0 with a 2.74 ERA in 11 subsequent starts.
Cecconi allowed three runs on six hits in six innings, striking out four without a walk. His last victory was against the Athletics on July 18, going 0-3 with a 5.35 ERA in seven starts since.
Everson Pereira put the Rays on the board in the second, singling in Josh Lowe with his first RBI since being acquired from the New York Yankees on July 31. It broke a 0-for-12 slump and was Pereira’s first hit in 15 at-bats off a righty this year.
The Guardians made it 1-1 in the bottom of the second, when Wilson singled on an attempted safety squeeze to plate Gabriel Arias. Cleveland had only scored in one of its previous 37 innings, including a 28-inning drought that ended Tuesday.
Wilson, a Rule 5 draftee from the San Francisco Giants, had a career-high three hits.
