For six innings, this looked like a game that would be decided by one swing. It was. Chase DeLauter's go-ahead home run to right in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and gave Cleveland the lead it would not relinquish, as the Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Thursday at Target Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Gavin Williams was the story from the first pitch. The right-hander worked seven innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 11 on 103 pitches. He picked up his 10th win of the season against 4 losses, carrying a 3.81 ERA. It was the kind of start that makes a bullpen's job easy: Cade Smith closed it out with a perfect ninth, striking out 2, for his 27th save of the season.
Gabriel Arias set the tone in the second, sending a 442-foot home run to center to put Cleveland ahead 1-0. Minnesota answered in the fifth when Tristan Gray singled to right, scoring Royce Lewis to tie it at 1-1. DeLauter then settled matters in the sixth with his 394-foot shot to right, his ninth home run of the year, restoring the Guardians' lead at 2-1. The seventh inning widened the gap: Brayan Rocchio doubled to left, scoring both Steven Kwan and Patrick Bailey to make it 4-1. Lewis answered with a solo home run to left in the bottom half, but Bailey added an insurance run with a solo shot to right in the ninth to set the final at 5-2.
Bailey Ober gave Minnesota a reasonable start — 5 innings, 1 run, 5 strikeouts — but the Twins' bullpen allowed 4 runs over 4 innings. Kendry Rojas, who worked 2 innings and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks, took his first loss of the season to fall to 1-1. Minnesota managed only 3 hits on the night and could not sustain any threat against Williams.
Lewis finished 2-for-4 with a home run and 1 RBI for the Twins, his ninth of the season. For Cleveland, Rocchio drove in 2 runs with his double. The Guardians improved to 48-46. Minnesota fell to 46-48. Cade Smith is 10 games away from 200 career appearances.