Alex Cobb tosses 6 perfect innings, Guardians hit 4 solo homers to top Pirates

Where Mitch Keller allowed his most hits of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t find a way to get on base against Cleveland Guardians left-hander Alex Cobb.

Cobb was perfect through six innings, and the Pirates couldn’t hit him until they hit him. Isiah Kiner-Falefa broke up the perfect game bid in the seventh with a single on a comebacker off Cobb’s glove hand.

Behind Cobb’s pitching and four solo home runs, the Guardians pounded the Pirates for a 6-1 win Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field to clinch the three-game series. The Pirates (63-73) visit the Chicago Cubs on Monday for a three-game series.

“I think it’s natural when a guy goes through four or five perfect, then you get a little antsy and you try to do too much. That’s normal,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “But, in this situation, I think Alex did a good job executing pitches. The pitches we had to hit we did not hit. Then we were able to get to him.”

Cobb (2-1), acquired from San Francisco at the July 30 trade deadline, was activated from the 15-day injured list after missing two starts with a broken fingernail. Cobb relied on his splitter and sinker to retire the first 18 Pirates batters, getting five looking at called third strikes while recording six strikeouts without a walk.

Shelton said Cobb’s ability to throw his fastballs to both sides of the plate made him formidable, as he got 11 groundouts and didn’t allow a ball to get past the infield until Henry Davis flied out to center for the final out of the sixth inning.

“The front-door sinker is probably the best — and I’ve seen Cobb a lot — that I’ve seen it, then he works the split off it,” Shelton said. “The split’s a really elite pitch and today, for a guy who’s coming off the IL, he was really sharp.”

Len Barker pitched the 10th perfect game in major league history — and the only one in Cleveland history — in a 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15, 1981. Peyton Battenfield was perfect through 5 2/3 innings against Minnesota on May 5, 2023.

Keller allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits — his most since surrendering 12 in an 8-2 loss to Atlanta on Sept. 8, 2023 — while striking out seven without a walk in 5 1/3 innings. When Keller missed the locations on his pitches, leaving them over the middle of the plate, the Guardians made him pay.

“I actually felt really good. That’s what makes this more disappointing than anything,” Keller said. “You want to capture those good-feeling days and use those to your advantage. It didn’t happen today.”

Andres Gimenez sent Keller’s 2-0 cutter 405 feet to center field for his seventh home run and a 1-0 Guardians lead. Jose Ramirez followed with a single, advanced to second base on a passed ball by Davis and scored on Jhonkensy Noel’s double down the third base line for a two-run advantage.

Keller tossed two scoreless innings before giving up another solo shot to rookie Kyle Manzardo, who was recalled Sunday when major league rosters expanded to 28. Manzardo, Cleveland’s No. 3 prospect, hit an inside fastball for a 409-foot blast to right-center and his first career home run to give the Guardians a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

“Two pitches really killed me,” Keller said. “I just yanked them over the middle of the plate. That’s not where I was trying to throw it. I got beat.”

Manzardo made it back-to-back homers, leading off the sixth by driving Keller’s first-pitch sinker 413 feet to right center for a 4-0 lead. Lane Thomas followed with a single to right and advanced third on a hit-and-run single by Brayan Rocchio.

“You look at the two home runs he gave up to Manzardo: They were balls that were supposed to be sinkers away and they were in,” Shelton said. “You cannot miss by that much.”

After Keller got Austin Hedges to fly out to right in foul territory, the Pirates turned to lefty Ryan Borucki to relieve Keller. It was the first appearance since April 5 for Borucki, who was activated from the 60-day injured list Sunday after dealing with left triceps inflammation. Steven Kwan lined out to Borucki, who turned a double play by getting Thomas out at third to end the inning.

Kiner-Falefa broke up Cobb’s perfect game in the seventh, lining a 1-2 splitter off the glove hand of the Cleveland left-hander for a single. Cobb was checked by a team trainer and remained in the game but gave up a single to Bryan Reynolds before Cade Smith came on in relief.

Oneil Cruz hit into a fielder’s choice that put runners on first and third, then stole second base. Hedges’ one-hop throw skipped past Gimenez at second base for an error that allowed Kiner-Falefa to score as the Pirates cut it to 4-1.

Jose Ramirez smashed Borucki’s 0-1 slider 383 feet to left for his 34th homer in the bottom of the seventh, increasing Cleveland’s lead to 5-1. After Borucki walked Josh Naylor, the Pirates brought in righty Kyle Nicolas. Manzardo drew a walk to put Naylor in scoring position, and he beat Reynolds’ throw to home on a single to left for a 6-1 advantage.

Cleveland held the Pirates scoreless over the finale three innings, as Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin combined for four strikeouts and one walk without allowing a hit.

“They’re good. They’re athletic,” Shelton said. “With their starting pitching, I think they’re going to need Cobb to do what he needs to do.”