Kyle Manzardo comes through in the clutch, powers Guardians to 4-3 win over Twins

There are times as the regular season comes to a close that a game taking place in the middle of September feels like a postseason matchup. Drama, intrigue, and late-game heroics. These are the terms used to describe October baseball, and they certainly applied to Monday night's matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins.

Cleveland found themselves down 3-0 early, as the Twins took the lead in the 3rd inning. Despite getting hit with what seemed like a haymaker from Minnesota, the Guardians were not going to roll over and let the Twins cruise to an easy victory. Cleveland would score runs in the 5th and 7th innings to reduce the deficit to one, but that was just setting up for what was to come next.

With one out in the bottom of the 8th and Josh Naylor standing on second following his double to lead off the inning, Kyle Manzardo stepped into the box ready to make an impact on the game. All Manzardo saw was one pitch from Twins reliever Griffin Jax, but that was all he needed. Manzardo would promptly deposit the 97 MPH fastball from Jax into the right field stands, giving Cleveland a late 4-3 lead.

Manzardo could not have picked a better time to hit his third career home run if he tried. Trailing a division rival by a single run with a man on second in a game that could have an impact on their playoff positioning. This is the kind of stuff that is commonplace in movies. The level of dramatics. The instantaneous momentum shift. Manzardo was able to take what seemed to be a deflating loss and turn it into a triumphant victory.

With the win, the Guardians now hold a five-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central and a 7.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland's magic number to clinch the division sits at seven, while simply clinching a playoff berth is now at two. At this rate, the Guardians should have both locked up sooner rather than later, allowing them to set their rotation and roster for their upcoming postseason run.