Steven Kwan, Kyle Manzardo deliver in Guardians' 11th win in last 13 games

CLEVELAND — Things are going so well for the red-hot Guardians these days that they had two hits through seven innings Wednesday night and still won. Utilizing opportune singles from Kyle Manzardo and Steven Kwan, Cleveland continued to roll, beating Baltimore 3-2 in front of 30,476 fans at Progressive Field. The win was the Guardians' 11th in 13 games since losing 10 straight. They have won four in a row and are 4-1 coming out of the All-Star break to pull back into wild card contention. "Don't want to jinx it, of course, but we've been playing some good baseball," said Kwan, who is batting .306 (19-for-62) and has driven in 25 runs with runners in scoring position. "It's just trusting each other. It feels like everybody's a lot looser right now. There's a lot more laughs in the dugout. "I think when we're playing loose, fun baseball we're going to play our best, so hoping to continue that. I think if we just rely on each other, we'll be in a good spot." Manzardo's two-run flare to left-center put the Guardians in front 2-1 in the fourth, while Kwan plated the game-winning run with two outs in the eighth by lining a pitch into center to score Bo Naylor from second. Naylor doubled prior to Kwan's at-bat and was safe at home on a throw off the mark from center fielder Cedric Mullins. Cleveland's Slade Cecconi, who was coming off a career-high eight-inning effort his last time out, worked in and out of trouble over six innings, but never caved. "Slade really couldn't land anything other than a fastball in the zone, and to navigate six innings, two runs, it was really impressive," manager Stephen Vogt said. "We've talked about Slade a lot over the last couple months, but that's pitching. When you don't have your best stuff, you gotta find a way to get outs, you gotta find a way to limit damage." "I think being able to get ground balls really helped," said Cecconi, who has worked five or more innings and allowed two runs or fewer in seven of nine starts since June 5. "Two double plays after some leadoff guys getting on is huge. I think as a pitcher you have to understand what you have that day. And today I understood early on that I didn't have my best stuff. "I think after that fourth inning I kind of found it, which was really nice to start crisping up the delivery, executing pitches." Cecconi got into a jam after walking the leadoff man in the third and allowing a double to the following batter, Mullins. But he kept the game scoreless by getting a fielder's choice groundout at the plate, picking off Mullins at second and striking out Jackson Holliday. With Cleveland in front 2-1 in the sixth, Holliday got even on a solo shot off Cecconi. But Cleveland's top-shelf bullpen picked up its pitcher, retiring nine of the final 10 batters after Cecconi's departure, without allowing a hit, and giving the offense a chance to deliver. "I don't want to say that we necessarily expect that, but that's been the case a lot of times this year," Manzardo said, "just passing the ball to anybody in the bullpen and knowing that they're going to hold the door, give us a shot to make a late run and score a couple runs to win the game." Closer Emmanuel Clase finished it off in the ninth by retiring the side in order with two strikeouts for his 23rd save. Clase has regained his form after a slow start to the season. "He's the best closer in the world," Vogt said. "I've said it all year despite the start, despite his struggles at times early in the year. He's just been lights out and getting ahead, staying ahead, putting them away." "It's the most dominant closer in the big leagues. It really is," Cecconi said. "If you look at what he's done from May on, I mean it's scary. There's no other way to say it. I do not want to be a hitter in that (batter's) box when he walks on that mound. He's a man on a mission." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.