Former Lake City star Manzardo takes Skenes into Allegheny River
Courtesy Cleveland Guardians on X Kyle Manzardo of the Cleveland Guardians, the former Lake City High and Washington State star, celebrates after homering off Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes in the seventh inning Saturday in Pittsburgh.
From wire and news services and local reports
PITTSBURGH — Cleveland's Kyle Manzardo spoiled Paul Skenes' bobblehead day, taking the young Pittsburgh Pirates ace deep in the Guardians' 3-0 victory on Saturday.
Manzardo, who starred at Lake City High and Washington State, led off the seventh by taking the first pitch he saw from Skenes (2-2) and sending it over the right-field stands. The fifth home run of the season by Cleveland's designated hitter landed 411 feet from home plate before bouncing into the Allegheny River.
"He started using the sinker a lot to get ahead of the lefties ... so leading off an inning, I thought I had a decent shot of sitting on one, and getting one," the lefty hitting Manzardo said, in a postgame interview on the Guardians' TV broadcast.
Manzardo is the first Cleveland player to homer into the river since PNC Park opened in 2001.
"That’s sick, man ... that’s awesome" said Manzardo, who is now hitting .194 (12 for 62), with 13 RBIs. "Anytime you hit a ball that leaves the stadium, it’s sweet, man."
Steven Kwan had two hits for the Guardians, including a run-scoring single off Skenes in the third. Nolan Jones also had two hits for Cleveland.
Ben Lively (1-2) and four relievers combined to hold the Pirates to six hits. Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his fourth save.
Skenes, starting on four days' rest for the first time this season, worked seven solid innings. The 22-year-old reigning National League Rookie of the Year gave up two runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The strikeout total marked Skenes' lowest of the season and the fewest in any start of his young career in which he's worked more than six innings.
The loss dampened what had been an electric pregame atmosphere. Fans began lining up outside the gates of PNC five hours before first pitch in hopes of grabbing one of the popular collectibles honoring Skenes.
The giveaway was only supposed to go to the first 20,000 fans. The club pivoted after what club president Travis Williams called 'unprecedented' demand, pledging to make sure everyone in the sellout crowd of 37,713 will have an opportunity to obtain one.
The spirit of charity was gone by the ninth. When Enmanuel Valdez was called out at third when he slid past the base while trying to turn a double into a triple, a ripple of "sell the team" chants arose from a crowd frustrated by Pittsburgh's 8-13 start.