Nothing separated the teams for long on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Twins trailed twice, tied it twice, and finally ended it in the ninth when Alan Roden singled to center to score Royce Lewis and deliver a 6-5 walkoff victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
Roden finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBI, both of them arriving in clutch moments. His first single in the fourth inning tied the game at 3-3, and his walk-off hit in the ninth completed the comeback. Kody Clemens provided the offensive backbone for Minnesota, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Brooks Lee added 2 hits and an RBI, while Luke Keaschall contributed a sacrifice fly and a double among his 2 on-base appearances.
A Game That Kept Flipping
Cleveland struck first in the fourth. Brayan Rocchio homered to left — a 401-foot shot — with DeLauter scoring ahead of him to put the Guardians up 2-0. Rhys Hoskins followed with a solo homer to left, extending the lead to 3-0. Minnesota answered immediately: Lewis scored on a walk by Royce Lewis, Clemens scored on a Keaschall sacrifice fly, and Roden's single to center brought Bell home to tie it at 3-3. The fourth inning alone produced all six runs to that point. The game stayed level until the seventh, when Watson scored on a DeLauter single to right, giving Cleveland a 4-3 lead. Kwan then scored on a Rocchio sacrifice bunt — aided by a fielding error by pitcher Rogers — to push it to 5-3. Minnesota again refused to fold. Keaschall scored on a Lee walk to make it 5-4, and Kreidler scored on a Clemens walk to tie it at 5-5. The Twins then sent it to the ninth all square, where Roden's single ended it.
Cleveland's bullpen absorbed the loss. Matt Festa allowed 3 hits and 1 run in 0.2 innings, falling to 2-2 on the season with a 3.99 ERA. Starter Slade Cecconi had exited after 3.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. On the Minnesota side, Connor Prielipp gave up 3 runs over 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. Yoendrys Gomez earned his first win of the season, working a scoreless inning of relief.
Minnesota improved to 46-47 and has now won four straight. Cleveland dropped to 47-46, losing for the fourth consecutive game. Rhys Hoskins, who homered for the Guardians, is 5 home runs away from 200 for his career.