Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Guardians take down Twins

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The Cleveland Guardians took care of business against the Minnesota Twins during a crucial portion of their schedule.

After dropping their one-off game against the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Guardians were staring straight in the face of a gauntlet of division games beginning Friday. Cleveland was scheduled to play the Minnesota Twins five times in four days including a doubleheader on Saturday. Any misstep over this stretch could result in the Guardians falling out of first place and potentially their playoff spot. Luckily the Guardiac Kids were up to the task and were not going to let a lesser Twins squad interfere with their postseason hopes.

Cleveland took four of five games outscoring Minnesota 27-14, the only loss being a shutout on Sunday following a 15-inning victory in the second game of a doubleheader the night before. While not an optimal result, this game does reside on the more acceptable end of the forgiveness meter. Bouncing back and putting a nail in the coffin that is the Twins season with Monday’s 11-4 win was the perfect way to end this series.

This set of games against Minnesota featured everything from the Guardians. Cleveland kicked things off with a comeback win featuring Ernie Clement doing his best Kenny Lofton impression. Clement scored from second on wild pitch in the bottom of the 8th to edge out Minnesota resulting in a crucial win.

The second game of the twin bill featured a 15 inning marathon with Amed Rosario coming to the rescue in the 13th prior to Austin Hedges scoring on an error to give Cleveland a hard earned victory.

The Guardians are now 80-67 on the season with a four game lead over the White Sox. Cleveland will now travel to Chicago as they attempt to deal the White Sox a similar blow that they gave the Twins. Taking the series in the Chicago would bring Cleveland one step closer to a division title in what has been an exciting yet unexpected seasons from the newly renamed Guardians.

Gut check time for Guardians

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The Cleveland Guardians hold a slim lead in the American League Central and will need all hands on deck to win the division.

Fresh off a series win against the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Guardians enter Thursday with a 2 game lead over the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. 27 games remain on their schedule including plenty of matchups against their division foes.

Beginning this weekend is the first of eight remaining matchups with Minnesota, an immediate chance for the Guardians to build their lead over the Twins. Cleveland will send Cal Quantrill, Triston McKenzie, and Shane Bieber to the mound in an effort to take the series and hopefully sweep the Twins at Target Field. This trio gives the Guardians the best chance they have to win some very crucial games as the season comes to a close.

As important as this weekend is, the most stretch from September 15th to 22nd will play the biggest factor in who wins the division. Cleveland will play the White Sox four times (once at home) and the Twins five times, including a doubleheader on the 17th. The twin bill could prove to be a challenge for the Guardians as they are down two regular starters in their rotation. Cleveland is already having to piece together their pitching staff outside the above trio making a doubleheader the least attractive matchup at this time.

The Guardians have lost seven of their last 10 games and need to rebound fast. Chicago and Minnesota have made up some ground during this stretch, but Cleveland has managed to hold on to the division lead. The time is now for the Guardians to muster up all they have got and take a division title that most did not expect them to win at the beginning of the year. Going through a gauntlet of division foes and coming out on top would be a fitting end for this season. It is not a question of talent or ability, but rather if they are able to put it together at the right time. This team has shown resilience throughout the season and it is times like this that it can shine through and result in an impressive achievement.

Guarding The Corner Ep. 15 – Grover Cleveland Season

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Guarding The Corner Epsiode 15 – Grover Cleveland Season: Discussing the Cleveland Guardians series with the Twins, Red Sox, and Twins again.

Guarding The Corner Ep. 15 – Grover Cleveland Season by This Is Believeland

Guardians outlast Twins in extras

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The Cleveland Guardians began their three-game set with the Minnesota Twins Tuesday, coming away with a 6-5 victory in extra-innings.

It was a more than welcome return for both Franmil Reyes and Aaron Civale. The Guardians activated both earlier in the day with Civale slated to start while Reyes batted sixth in the lineup. In his first start in about a month Civale delivered by allowing just two runs in 5 innings while striking out seven and walking one. This was one of the better starts for Civale this season as he has largely struggled. Meanwhile it was Reyes who came through for Cleveland in the top of the 8th with a game-tying two-run homer.

With the game tied the Guardians headed to extras with a chance to take the first game in Minnesota. After a scoreless 10th it was Andres Gimenez who pulled through in the 11th to give Cleveland the lead.

The one run advantage was all the Guardians needed as Emmanuel Clase came in for the bottom of the inning and shut the door on just six pitches.

Where things stand

Currently Cleveland and Minnesota are technically tied forfirst place in the American League Central but the Guardians hold the edge winning percentage wise (.556-.551) due to games played. Cleveland can take sole possession of first place with a win on Wednesday. The Guardians will start the surging Triston McKenzie while Minnesota will send overdue for regression Sonny Gray to the mound.

Guarding the Corner Ep. 14 – More Than Cromulent

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Guarding The Corner Episode 14 – More Than Cromulent: James and Bryan discuss the Cleveland Guardians winning ways, their series with the Twins, and trivia.

Guarding The Corner Ep. 14 – More Than Cromulent by This Is Believeland

Guardians drop two of three in Minnesota

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The Cleveland Guardians found out things were not so nice when they travelled to Minnesota to take on the Twins. Cleveland found themselves facing adversity before they even made it to the Twin Cities with their series finale against the White Sox being postponed due to COVID-19. Seven coaches entered health and safety protocols and Josh Naylor was placed on the COVID-19 IL with the team recalling Richie Palacios to fill his roster spot. This series was going to be a challenge for the Guardians as the Twins are the current division leader, adding in the organizational shuffle on top top that just made it a bit more difficult.

It was an offensive explosion in Friday’s 12-8 loss with Minnesota at one point holding an 11-2 lead. Some late inning runs that really only impacted the stats of Twins pitcher Griffin Jax ended up not mattering in the end. The series opener appeared to set the stage for what could be a run scoring frenzy at Target Field, it did not.

The next two games saw the Guardians and Twins combine to score just nine runs in 19 innings. It was a 3-2 win in Mickey Mouse extra-innings Saturday propelled by Andres Gimenez and some clever base running by Myles Straw. Sunday’s rubber match lacked late drama as all the run scoring was done by the 5th inning. Three of the four runs score in the contest were via the solo homer, Max Kepler’s RBI single in the 1st being the outlier.

Normalcy (sort of) has seemed to settle in for the Guardians after they were stuck in a sweep streak earlier this season. Cleveland has played moderately well over the last 14 games with a 9-5 record to show for it. The conclusion of the annual Ohio Cup series with the Reds awaits them beginning Tuesday with off days Monday and Thursday before taking on the disappointing Detroit Tigers to finish out the week. This is the opportunity to build up some wins on some lesser opponents to possibly get back into the mix of an underperforming American League Central.

Cleveland clobbers Twins 12-3

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The Cleveland Baseball Club capped off their final game of their series with the Minnesota Twins with a 12-3 beatdown at Target Field.

There is nothing like a lopsided win and that is just what the Cleveland Baseball Club got Thursday night at Target Field. Cleveland scored 12 runs on 14 hits as they they came away with a nine run victory.

Cleveland got some impressive power output from Oscar Mercado, Bobby Bradley, and Franmil Reyes. Mercado hit a three-run homer in the 5th to extend Cleveland’s lead to four. While it was the only hit of the game for Mercado, it was quite impactful.

Bradley came through with a two-run shot in 7th to give Cleveland a 10 run lead. It was the second RBI hit of the game for Bradley as he doubled home Jose Ramirez in the 4th.

Reyes capped off their scoring effort with a solo shot in the 9th to make it a 12-3 game. It was a 3-5 effort for Reyes in the contest as he came through with a RBI single in the 7th as well.

Jose Ramirez also had a productive outing, going 3-4 with a sacrifice fly in the 5th and a RBI single in the 7th.

Myles Straw also had three hits in five at-bats, scoring twice along the way.

Cal Quantrill got the start for Cleveland and was fairly impressive. Three runs did come around to score with Qunatrill on the mound, but none were earned. Overall Quantirll allowed three hits and two walks on the night while striking out four.

Cleveland will continue their road trip as they make their way to The Bronx to take on the New York Yankees who are fighting for a playoff spot. 

Cleveland loses to Twins 6-3

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The Cleveland Baseball Club was not able to complete the doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins, losing. by a score of 6-3.

The first of two games went well for the Cleveland Baseball Club as they came away with a 3-1 win in the first half of their doubleheader with the Minnesota Twins. The second game was not as kind to Cleveland as after taking an early lead, Minnesota stormed back to hand Cleveland a 6-3 loss.

Cleveland did all of their work offensively in the 3rd inning. With two outs and Oscar Mercado on second, it was Amed Rosario coming through with a two-out RBI double. Jose Ramirez would follow with a two-out RBI double of his own to increase the lead to two. Franmil Reyes would subsequently drive in Ramirez with a single, Cleveland’s final run of the game.

The problems for Cleveland’s starter, Logan Allen, popped up in the 4th inning. After keeping the Twins off the board for the first three innings, Minnesota did some two out damage of their own. Allen allowed three straight two-out RBI hits, just like Charlie Barnes did the inning prior with Cleveland batting. Minnesota chased Allen from the game as he failed to get out of the 4th inning.

Trevor Stephan relieved Allen and managed to end the inning with Cleveland trailing 4-3. The Twins would extend their lead as Stephan allowed a two-run homer in the 6th. Cleveland was not able to present a real threat offensively for the remainder of the game leading to the loss.

The series continues in Minnesota Wednesday at 7:40 P.M.

Three homers power Cleveland to 4-1 win over Twins

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The Cleveland Baseball Club homered three times to avoid the sweep and come away with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Just a few days ago the Cleveland Baseball Club’s franchise record homer streak came to an end as they lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Twins. A second straight 3-0 loss to Minnesota led to Cleveland on the brink of being swept in a four game series. This time around Cleveland not only managed to score at least one run, they managed to homer three times en route to four runs and a 4-1 victory.

Trailing 1-0 in the 3rd inning it was time for Cleveland’s offense to wake up. After Myles Straw reached on a walk, it was a mammoth blast from Franmil Reyes which gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead.

The very next inning it was Oscar Mercado’s turn to homer. Mercado took a 1-1 pitch and hit it over the wall in left.

Wanting to get in on the action, Jose Ramirez got his home run pitch and deposited into the right field seats.

The run scoring for Cleveland was only half the equation Thursday night. An impressive start from Cal Quantrill provided the opportunity to win the game. Quantrill allowed just one run, a Miguel Sano homer in the 2nd. Besides the Sano homer, Quantrill allowed three other hits while striking out five and walking two in 7.2 innings. Blake Parker finished the 8th on just four pitches while Emmanuel Clase handled the 9th to earn his 22nd save of the year.

Cleveland’s home stand continues as they begin a three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at 7:10 P.M.

 

 

Cleveland one hit in 3-0 loss to Twins

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The Cleveland Baseball Club only managed one hit in a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

On one hand it was an unimpressive effort offensively for the Cleveland Baseball Club. On the other it was a spectacular start for Twins pitcher Joe Ryan. Ryan was perfect through 6.1 innings until Amed Rosario singled to left for Cleveland’s first and only hit of the game. Rosario’s single was the only baserunner Cleveland had for the entire game. Cleveland did not fair any better against Minnesota relievers Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Duffey, striking out three times in six at-bats.

This was the second straight game which the Twins came away with a 3-0 win at Progressive Field, the final score for Wednesday being an exact duplicate of Tuesday.

Triston McKenzie started for Cleveland and was impressive, even though he came away with a loss. McKenzie allowed just one run on three hits while striking out seven and walking one. This was the exact type of start that any team would want out of their starter. The unfortunate aspect of the game was that their offense was non-existent with Ryan on the mount for Minnesota.

The final game of their series at home against the Twins takes place Thursday at 6:10 P.M. with Cleveland looking to avoid being victims of a four game sweep.