The Cleveland Baseball Club utilized a three-run 8th inning to propel themselves to a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Twins.
The ability to score runs when it matters most is a trademark of good teams. With the game tied at 1, the Cleveland Baseball Club scored three runs in the 8th to come away with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Minnesota and Cleveland traded runs in the 1st and 2nd innings as the Twins scored first with Cleveland answering in the next half-inning. Austin Hedges drove in Bobby Bradley to level the score when it was their turn in the 2nd. What this really showed was that both J.C. Mejia and Jose Berrios were extremely impressive Thursday night. The final pitching lines for both players were incredibly similar as Mejia allowed just one run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 6 innings while Berrios allowed one run on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
The difference in the game came down to the bullpen. Cleveland deployed Blake Parker, Bryan Shaw, and James Karinchak for the final 3 innings with the trio allowing just two hits. Minnesota turned to Jorge Alcala in the 8th and allowed three runs on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Eddie Rosario drove in Amed Rosario and Austin Hedges to give Cleveland a 3-1 lead. Bobby Bradley would follow with a RBI groundout which allowed Jose Ramirez to score.
Coming away with a win in the first of four games in Minnesota is a huge win. Cleveland is still hanging around in the AL Central as they trail the Chicago White Sox by just two games. Cleveland can draw closer with a win on Friday and the Mariners coming away with an unlikely victory in Chicago.
