Poor outing from Slade Cecconi ruins Jose Ramirez's return

CLEVELAND — Right-hander Slade Cecconi was a party pooper Wednesday night at Progressive Field. With Jose Ramirez, their undisputed best player, fresh off the injured list and primed to provide an immediate impact, the Guardians were set for a celebration. Instead, they got one of Cecconi's worst outings of the season and a 10-6 shellacking from the Twins that prevented Cleveland from clinching the four-game Central Division series. Cecconi, who doesn't have a win in eight of his last nine starts, allowed a season-high seven runs over 4 2/3 innings. He surrendered a home run to Trevor Larnach on his fourth pitch before allowing two tying runs in the third and four in the fourth, as the Twins took control on a three-run homer from Brooks Lee. Cecconi allowed six of his seven hits within the third and fourth innings. "It just didn't look like he was able to find his best stuff," manager Stephen Vogt said. "He didn't really have it. Maybe the two weeks off. There's a lot of reasons that go into it. Just didn't think Slade had his best stuff tonight." Cecconi was pitching for the first time since July 8 but didn't think the layoff affected his outing. "First and foremost, I had a lot of time to work. I didn't just go sit on my butt. I was doing stuff. I was staying in my routine, so I don't think that was the big issue tonight," he said. "I think I made some mistakes over the plate, and I think they also hit some pretty good pitches. "I was present in that moment when Brooks Lee hit the homer. I was like: 'You know what? I'm going to get this guy. I'm going to execute this pitch.' And I just left a pitch a little bit up. I got to give him a little credit, man. He hit a 95 mph outer lane sinker 400 feet to dead center. Not my best pitch, but really good swing." Ramirez was activated prior to the game after a five-week stint on the IL following left hand surgery and was a factor from the start. He scored Cleveland's first run in the opening inning after a one-out single before putting the Guardians in front 3-1 with an infield single in the second. Ramirez drove in another run with a fielder's choice grounder in the fourth before grounding to second with two on to end the eighth. "It was just fun to have him back," Vogt said. "The first inning shows you what we missed. He gets a base hit, tags up right in the left fielder's face, produces a run, gets another swinging bunt hit. I mean, just his presence. We felt like a lift up for the whole group today and unfortunate game coming off of that, but just so good to have him back. It was not a shock to see him come out right out of the gates and get things going. It's a testament to his hard work." "You saw Jose doing Jose things immediately. That should excite everybody," Cecconi said. "You get the whole package, man. You get the person and the player. He's been here throughout his rehab every day talking to guys. He's been so engaged and to have him back in the lineup, it's everything for us." The time away from the game was difficult for the seven-time All-Star. "Thank God to be able to be back. I was a little anxious to be back with my teammates," he said through an interpreter. "It's hard to explain, but it's real. That sensation of not being able to be in the lineup is something you can feel, and I was really looking forward to being back after a month away." Cleveland didn't help itself with a poor defensive effort, something that has been the trend as of late. First baseman Kyle Manzardo was charged with an error on a grounder right at him and failed to track down a foul pop in the second, while Ramirez and shortstop Brayan Rocchio had throwing errors to Manzardo at first. Manzardo atoned with a 3-for-5 performance that included a double, a homer and two RBIs, but his two run-scoring hits came with his team facing a significant deficit. "It looked like tough hop for Manzo, kind of got him in between and then kind of looked like Roki got caught in between going to get it, sitting back and kind of rushed the throw," Vogt said. "And then same thing with Hosey, kind of took him out of his rhythm going to his right and just uncharacteristic of us. I mean, we gifted them five runs tonight via the walk or error. It was just an uncharacteristic night for us defensively." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.