A pair of former WSU baseball standouts faced off in the American League Championship series last week.

Ian Hamilton, relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, and Kyle Manzardo, designated hitter for the Cleveland Guardians, both had a chance to help their respective team reach the World Series.

Hamilton appeared in one game in the series. He allowed a run in one/third of an inning before leaving the game with a calf injury. He recorded four outs in one appearance against the Royals in the American League Divisional Series. 

Hamilton is coming off a successful season which saw him put together a 3.82 ERA in 35 relief appearances. He struck out 41 batters and recorded one save on the year. 

While the Yankees went on to win the series, the former 11th-round pick out of Wazzu will not be on the active World Series roster. Instead, he is now on the injured reserve, having been replaced on the roster by Mark Leiter Jr. 

Manzardo, meanwhile, had a fantastic ALCS despite his team’s 4-1 series loss. The rookie hit .385 (five-for-thirteen) in the series, appearing in all five games. He smashed a home run and a double, tallying three RBI and two runs scored while compiling an OPS of 1.077. 

That stellar ALCS performance came off the heels of what was an up-and-down season for Manzardo. The rookie hit .234 with a .703 OPS, crankng five home runs and twelve doubles. However, he was sent down after his initial major league stint, and spent 83 games in the minor leagues, compared to just 53 games with Cleveland.