Minnesota 8, Cleveland 3
When: 6:10 PM ET, Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
86°
Umpires:
Home -
Nic Lentz, 1B -
Paul Clemons, 2B -
Junior Valentine, 3B -
Chad Fairchild
Attendance:
20224
By Field Level Media
Donovan Solano hit a three-run triple to highlight a five-run eighth inning and Christian Vazquez homered to lead the visiting Minnesota Twins to an 8-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night.
Vazquez went 2-for-2 with two walks and Solano and Willi Castro each had two hits for Minnesota (73-66), which extended its American League Central lead to seven games over the second-place Guardians. Griffin Jax (6-8) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief.
Bo Naylor homered and Will Brennan had two hits and scored a run for Cleveland (66-73). Trevor Stephan (6-6) took the loss, allowing five runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in two-thirds of an inning.
The contest was tied 3-3 entering the eighth inning when the Twins broke it open, taking advantage of Stephan's wildness.
Vazquez started the rally with a single and then advanced to third on an opposite-field double down the left-field line by Castro. One out later, Jorge Polanco drove in pinch runner Joey Gallo with a sacrifice fly.
Stephan then walked Royce Lewis and Max Kepler to load the bases. Castro scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3, and Stephan then hit Carlos Correa with a pitch to load the bases again.
Solano followed with a sinking line drive. Center fielder Myles Straw ran in and tried to short-hop the ball, but it bounced past his glove and rolled to the track, allowing all three runners to score, making it 8-3.
The Twins, coming in off a 20-6 win in the series opener on Monday, picked up where they left off in the first inning, jumping out to a 2-0 lead against Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee. Lewis walked with two outs and scored on a double by Kepler. Correa then followed with a single to drive in Kepler.
Cleveland tied it 2-2 in the third on Naylor's home run to right, driving in Brennan, who had singled to start the inning. It was Naylor's eighth homer of the season.
The Guardians took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Gabriel Arias led off with a double to center, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Straw.
Minnesota tied it 3-3 in the sixth when Vazquez sliced the ball just inside the right-field foul pole for his sixth home run of the season.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Minnesota |
|
Cleveland |
Sonny Gray
|
Player |
Tanner Bibee
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
6.0 |
IP |
5.0 |
4 |
Strikeouts |
4 |
6 |
Hits |
4 |
4.50 |
ERA |
3.60 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Minnesota
|
11 |
1 |
20 |
.306 |
19 |
10 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
Cleveland
|
7 |
1 |
11 |
.226 |
12 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |