Minnesota 4, Cleveland 1
When: 6:40 PM ET, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
76°
Umpires:
Home -
Junior Valentine, 1B -
Chad Fairchild, 2B -
Ryan Wills, 3B -
Carlos Torres
Attendance:
17391
By Field Level Media
Matt Wallner had a pair of RBI singles and Willi Castro provided some insurance with a late two-run homer as the visiting Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The Twins (80-71) extended a 2-1 advantage when Castro went deep with a man on and two outs in the eighth inning. Wallner set the stage with a two-out RBI single in the third and by repeating the feat in the fifth as the Twins helped their cause while holding the third and final American League wild-card spot.
Twins starter Zebby Matthews allowed five hits but yielded only one run in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one. Cole Irvin, Cole Sands (9-1), Ronny Henriquez, Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax (ninth save) combined to hold the AL Central-leading Guardians (87-65) to three hits in 4 1/3 shutout innings.
Jax, who allowed Kyle Manzardo's two-run, go-ahead eighth-inning homer in Minnesota's 4-3 loss on Monday in the series opener, got the final out with the bases loaded on Tuesday.
Lane Thomas homered and Gavin Williams (3-10) allowed two runs, five hits, two walks and fanned seven in five innings for Guardians, who must wait a bit to clinch their postseason berth.
Minnesota struck first in the third. Ryan Jeffers reached on an infield single, but Williams posted back-to-back strikeouts of Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien. After Byron Buxton drew a walk, Wallner sent a single into right field that plated Jeffers.
Cleveland answered in the fourth. With one out, Thomas sent Matthews' fastball just over the 19-foot wall in left-center field to tie the contest. It was Thomas' 13th homer of the year.
The Twins went back ahead with more two-out production in the fifth. Buxton doubled and scored when Wallner came through again, this time dropping a single into right field for a 2-1 Minnesota lead.
Castro then gave the Twins a needed cushion, something they could not do while trying to hold a 3-2 lead on Monday, with his first homer since Aug. 25. The blast, off Nick Sandlin, was Castro's 12th of the season.
The Guardians placed All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan on the 10-day injured list with mid-back inflammation before the game. Outfielder Myles Straw was promoted from Triple-A Columbus to fill the roster spot.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Minnesota
|
8 |
1 |
12 |
.235 |
13 |
10 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
Cleveland
|
8 |
1 |
12 |
.242 |
12 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |