The Guardians had a chance to keep rolling in Minnesota, but one rough inning from Franco Aleman flipped the afternoon and sent Cleveland home with a 4-3 loss to the Twins at Target Field.
Cleveland fell to 75-74, and Saturday’s result means the Guardians cannot catch the Chicago White Sox at the top of the AL Central, even if Chicago loses to the St. Louis Cardinals. The good news for the Guardians is that they still hold the third and final Wild Card spot after taking the opener on Friday.
Daniel Espino set the tone early as the opener, working two scoreless innings with one hit allowed, no walks, and two strikeouts. He was regularly up near triple digits and looked sharp with his command.
The Guardians struck first in the top of the second. Travis Bazzana singled home Jo Adell for the game’s opening run, but Angel Martinez was thrown out at third on the same play, cutting off a chance for more damage.
Minnesota answered in the third, and that’s where the game turned. Emmanuel Rodriguez launched his first homer of the season to tie it after Espino gave way to Aleman.
From there, things unraveled fast for the Cleveland right-hander. Singles started stacking up, a wild pitch helped move runners, and Kody Clemens drove in Luke Keaschall with the go-ahead run.
Royce Lewis followed with another RBI hit to push the Twins ahead 3-1, and after Aleman loaded the bases again, he hit Victor Caratini to force in Minnesota’s fourth run of the inning, with Clemens crossing the plate.
By the time the inning ended, Aleman’s line was a tough one: four runs in just 0.2 innings, five hits allowed, including the homer, and two hit batters.
Cleveland trimmed the margin in the fifth. Brayan Rocchio’s groundout brought in Austin Hedges, and Steven Kwan then singled home Hedges to make it a one-run game at 4-3. That was as close as the Guardians would get.
The offense never really found another gear. Cleveland finished with just five hits, and only one of them - a Hedges double - went for extra bases.
Outside of Aleman, the pitching staff did its job. Espino, Joey Cantillo, and Craig Yoho all turned in scoreless outings, and Cantillo was especially sharp, firing four shutout innings with eight strikeouts.
The series wraps up Sunday at Target Field. Tanner Bibee is set to start for Cleveland, with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 pm ET.
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 🡒]