September 19 – Josh Naylor hit two tying homers and Brian Rockne hit two tying home runs to help the Cleveland Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 5–4 in 10 innings on Wednesday night, with Brian Rocchio’s RBI single scoring three runs in the 10th.
Carlos Correa hit a two-run single off Hunter Gaddis (5-3) in the 10th inning to cap a four-RBI night and put Minnesota (80-72) ahead 4 – 2. However, Rony Henriquez (1-1) of the Twins tied the game in the second inning on RBI singles by Kyle Manzado and Will Brennan. With a runner on the corners against Michael Tonkin, Rocio homered and hit the game-winning shot, scoring Twins first baseman Carlos Santana.
With a playoff spot nearly assured, the Guardians (88-65) improved to 13-7 since Aug. 28. They are six games ahead of the Kansas City Royals, who lost to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, in the American League Central Division.
The disastrous result for Minnesota — which clinched the third and final AL wild-card berth — overshadowed the stellar performance of starter Bailey Ober. The 6-foot-9-inch right-hander gave up two home runs, two more hits and a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings of work to the Naylor. However, despite three hits by Matt Woerner, the Twins stranded seven runners and lost the first two of three of those four games.
Cleveland’s Tanner Beebe allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Beebe struggled in the first inning for the Guardians and gave up a run.
Minnesota’s Willi Castro led off with a double, moved to third on Wallner’s infield hit and scored on Correa’s grounder, the shortstop hitting Roccio.
However, the Guardians tied the game in the second period on Naylor’s 30th homer.
However, Minnesota retook the lead in the fifth inning. With two outs, Castro was hit by a BB pitch, moved to third on Woerner’s single to right field, and scored on Correa’s infield hit.
Naylor once again forced Ober into the right seat, this time he took the lead in the seventh inning and tied the score at 2-2.
The Guardians have recorded 41 comeback wins this season.
——Visual-level media
