In a game that was filled with missed opportunities for just about all involved, the Cleveland Guardians won tonight over the Minnesota Twins, by a final score of 7-6. It took ten innings to play, and featured multiple errors from both teams. Now the Guardians sit just two games behind the Twins for first place in the AL Central.
For Cleveland(Now 38-34), the scoring started in a strange bottom of the 1st inning. It was DH Franmil Reyes who grounded into a fielders choice to shortstop, which allowed OF Steven Kwan and SS Amed Rosario to score with the help of a fielding error. Next was the 3rd inning, when 1B Josh Naylor would hit a sacrifice fly to left, again scoring Kwan. The rest of the scoring happened in a spectacular bottom of the 10th, leading to a walk off win for Cleveland. First it was a Rosario double to left, which allowed a pinch hitting LF Richie Palacious to score, followed by a passed ball from the Twins to score Kwan. Finally, it was Naylor with a homer to left to score Rosario and himself, ending the game. Starting Pitcher Cal Quantrill receives a no decision for going 8 full innings, and allowing 3 runs on 8 hits, while racking up 3 strikeouts with 0 walks.
For Minnesota(Now 43-35), the scoring started in the top of the 6th, when 1B Alex Kirilloff homered to right center (403 ft) to score himself and DH Gary Sanchez. This was immediately followed with 3B Gio Urshela knocking a 379 ft homer to left. The rest of the Twin’s scoring was reserved for the top of the 10th, starting with a pinch hitting SS Carlos Correa, hitting a single to right to score CF Bobby Buxton, who was also a pinch hitter. Finally, RF Max Kepler homered to right (398 ft), to score himself and Correa. This would set up the team with a 6-3 lead, which would be blown by relief pitching and allow for Clevelands walk-off win. Starting Pitcher Dylan Bundy also took a no decison, for going 5 full innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while racking up just 1 strikeout along with 1 walk. The loss went to Jharell Cotton while pitching in relief.
The series will finish tommorow(Thursday 6-30), with a make-up game, taking place on what was originally planned as an off-day. It will be a 1:10pm first pitch (pregame starts on WQKT at 12:35p), and Shane Bieber is the probable starter for the Guards.