Three Observations From Guardians Win Over Pirates, 6-1

Alex Cobb and Kyle Manzardo led the Cleveland Guardians to a series victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sep 1, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Alex Cobb (35) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Another win and another series victory for the Cleveland Guardians as they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon, 6-1.

Here are three observations and takeaways from Cleveland's latest win.

Alex Cobb

There was a point in Sunday's game in which Alex Cobb was perfect, like actually perfect.

The veteran pitcher sent down the first 18 hitters he saw and pitched into the seventh inning before giving up two consecutive hits, the first of which came back to hit Cobb on his nonthrowing hand. At this point, Cobb had already thrown 80 pitches and had done his job for the Guardians, so Stephen Vogt turned the game over to the bullpen.

Cobb's final line ended up looking like this: 6.0 IP, two hits, zero earned runs,

The key to Cobb's effeiecnt start was how he pounded the strikezone. He was constatnly ahead in his at-bats and threw 63 percent of his pitches for strikes. This should be a great lesson to all young pitchers that you don't always need to throw for strikeouts to have a quality start.

Kyle Manzardo Has Arrived

We've been waiting to see Kyle Manzardo take over a game with his bat for almost a year now. Finally, that came to fruition in his frist game since rejoin the major league team thanks to expanded rosters.

Manzardo flew out to the center field in his first at-bat but bounced right back, hitting his first career home run during his second plate appearance of the day. The next time he stepped in the box, He did the exact same thing on the first pitch he saw and hit his second home run of the game.

Cleveland's No. 2 ranked prospect finished the game going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk.

Jose Ramirez's Elite Defense

Jose Ramirez is mostly known for his bat, and he did hit a home run in Sunday's win, but J-ram also showed off his elite defense at the hot corner in the win, too.

Sep 1, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) throws to first base in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Cobb is a ground ball pitcher do to how much he throws his sinker. This meant that Ramirez saw a lot of action at third base. He recorded eight assists (six coming with Cobb on the mound) against the Pirates, with some of them being more than routine plays.

Ramirez made two great plays at third base in the fifth inning to keep Cobb's perfect game in tact at the time.