Kyle Manzardo was slated to bat cleanup and play first base for the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday after missing three games to be alongside family as his mother underwent successful heart transplant surgery.
His official return will have to wait, however, as rain postponed the opener of a four-game series between the visiting Guardians and Chicago White Sox. The teams will play a split doubleheader Friday, with games at 3:10 and 8:10 p.m. Eastern.
Cleveland arguably benefited from a rest standpoint. The Guardians played their previous 15 games with June 30 as the lone off day during that stretch. The Guardians are coming off a road sweep of Houston on the heels of a 10-game losing streak.
Slade Cecconi delivered seven innings of two-run ball to key a 4-2 victory in the series finale Wednesday.
“With where we were with the bullpen with this long stretch … we needed an outing like this,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.
White Sox All-Star right-hander Shane Smith (3-7, 4.20 ERA) is set to oppose Guardians lefty Logan Allen (5-7, 4.07) in Game 1 Friday.
The nightcap will feature Chicago’s Jonathan Cannon (3-7, 4.50) against Cleveland’s Gavin Williams (5-4, 3.61) in a matchup of righties.
The Guardians secured a three-game sweep of the visiting White Sox from April 8-10, including a pair of one-run victories. Cleveland is still searching for its first win of 2025 in Chicago city limits after the Cubs swept the Guardians from July 1-3.
Initially set to pitch Thursday, Cannon will aim to string together successive victories for the second time this season. Pitching at Colorado on Saturday, Cannon won for the first time since May 2 against Houston, delivering 5 1/3 innings of two-run, eight-hit ball.
Cannon spent most of June on the injured list with a lower back strain. He threw 69 pitches over three innings during a June 29 no-decision against San Francisco and 78 pitches against the Rockies.
“He’s a professional,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He understands how to navigate traffic, and I know he’s got different ways to get guys out and he’s able to draw on those options in different spots and able to eliminate runs when he does get traffic. He’s just a guy that knows how to pitch.”
The nightcap marks a pitching rematch of a 6-1 Guardians victory on April 10. Manzardo and Steven Kwan both smacked two-run home runs against Cannon, who yielded six runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Williams scattered one run and three hits in five innings to get the win. The White Sox scored their lone run on a wild pitch.
The White Sox have lost six of nine but are coming off Wednesday’s 2-1 home victory against the Toronto Blue Jays, which stopped Toronto’s 10-game winning streak.
Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, who went 1-for-11 with a single and two strikeouts against the White Sox in April, is batting .308 with four home runs and seven RBIs in his past seven games.
–Field Level Media
