Steven Kwan set the tone almost immediately, and the Cleveland Guardians never really let Minnesota breathe after that.
On a day when Cleveland needed a win to keep trimming ground in the AL Central race, the offense gave Tanner Bibee plenty of help and the pitching staff did the rest in a 7-1 victory over the Twins. Kwan jumped on the second pitch of the game for a fast start, and the Guardians kept stacking traffic and extra bases from there.
Bibee turned in one of his best outings of the 2026 season, working 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. Minnesota never mounted a major threat on the bases, and one of its runs came on a solo home run.
After Bibee, Hunter Gaddis handled 0.2 scoreless innings and gave up one hit, Erik Sabrowski added 0.2 scoreless frames, and Matt Festa finished it off with a clean ninth. Festa allowed one baserunner and struck out two.
The power came through, too. Jo Adell crushed one 451 feet and sent it off the bat at 116.8 mph, a no-doubt blast that helped Cleveland keep widening the gap.
The Guardians also mixed in the kind of small-ball work that has long been part of their identity. In the fourth, Brayan Rocchio was hit by a pitch with one out and then stole second.
Kwan followed with a liner to right that brought Rocchio home. Chase DeLauter then grounded out, moving Kwan to third, and Travis Bazzana singled to right to score him and make it 4-1.
Cleveland added another in the sixth when Rocchio led off with a single to right. With two outs, Bazzana launched a homer that scored Rocchio and pushed the lead to five.
The game really got away in the ninth. DeLauter singled on a grounder to right and was replaced by pinch runner Petey Halpin.
Bazzana walked, forcing a pitching change. Adell followed with a ground-rule double that scored Halpin and sent Bazzana to third.
Nathaniel Lowe then lifted a sacrifice fly to left, bringing in Bazzana and allowing Adell to move up. Angel Martínez capped the inning with a double to center that scored Adell.
Kwan finished 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and two RBI, coming just a triple short of the cycle. Bazzana went 2-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, and a walk, while Adell was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
The White Sox are up next in Cleveland after dropping back-to-back series against the Pirates and Cardinals. That sets up a gritty series starting tomorrow, and the Guardians will try to keep the momentum rolling.
In Other News...
Stephen Vogt Is Giving Guardians Fans One Less Thing To Worry About
Stephen Vogt has quickly given Guardians fans a stabilizing presence in the dugout, and a recent Bleacher Report analysis backed up what has been easy to see from the outside. Even amid the ups and downs of the season, Vogt has drawn praise for the way he has handled a roster that continues to ask a lot of him, especially on the pitching side, while keeping Cleveland in the postseason conversation.
For a fan base that has already had enough to monitor on the field, the manager situation is not one of the concerns. Industry opinion has settled in on Vogt as one of the safest bets in the game when it comes to job security, and that matters for a club trying to keep its footing in a tight race. The bigger question now is whether that stability can help the Guardians turn a solid year into something more. [Read more 🡒]
Tanner Bibee Is Creating An October Decision Guardians Fans Didn't Expect
The Guardians pitching picture looked a lot clearer after the front office added Foster Griffin before the trade deadline, giving Cleveland seven healthy options to work with as the calendar turns toward October. Even so, Tanner Bibee remains one of the names most likely to stay in the postseason mix, a reflection of both how much trust the staff still has in him and how much the club values his ability to take the ball and work deep into games.
That is a little different from where Bibees stock seemed to be when he first emerged as a possible ace. His recent regression, marked by a higher ERA and more home runs allowed, has made the conversation more complicated than many expected. But in a playoff race, reliability matters, and Bibees experience could keep him in the rotation even as Cleveland weighs a crowded group of healthy arms. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Bullpen Decision Puts Stephen Vogt In A Late-Season Spot
The Guardians made another late-season bullpen tweak, optioning Franco Aleman to Triple-A Columbus and bringing Conor Brogdon back to the major league roster. It is the kind of roster move teams make when every inning starts to matter a little more, especially when recent performances have forced a hard look at who can be trusted in leverage spots. Aleman had been struggling, and the club decided it needed a different look as the schedule tightens.
Brogdon gives Cleveland a familiar option, since he has major league experience and has already moved between Columbus and Cleveland this season. For Stephen Vogt, the decision adds another layer to a bullpen that is being managed carefully with critical games ahead, and it leaves the Guardians continuing to sort out which arms can steady the back end when the margin for error gets thin. [Read more 🡒]