Twins bullpen melts down, Guardians win first game of doubleheader
Devin Smeltzer had a tremendous outing on the mound and Carlos Correa homered for the second straight game, but Emilio Pagan's latest meltdown handed the Cleveland Guardians a 3-2 win in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.
Pagan came into the game in the eighth inning trying to protect a 2-1 lead. He quickly became his own worst enemy, dealing walks to Myles Straw and Steven Kwan to lead off the inning. After unleashing a wild pitch to Ahmed Rosario, the Guardians' shortstop delivered, lacing a two-run single to put Cleveland ahead for good.
The meltdown was disappointing for the Twins who received an excellent outing from Smeltzer. After allowing a bloop RBI single to Franmil Reyes in the first inning, Smeltzer settled down to allow four hits and a walk while striking out a career-high nine batters over six innings.
Zach Plesac dueled with Smeltzer with six shutout innings of his own, but the Twins tied the game on a Gilberto Celestino triple in the seventh inning. With the game deadlocked at one, Correa broke the tie in the top of the eighth with his 10th home run of the season and put the Twins on track for a come-from-behind victory.
The Guardians took advantage of Pagan's issues in the bottom half of the eighth, however, and despite a wild ninth inning from Emmanuel Clase, he was able to do what Pagan could not and close out the game.
The Twins will look to split the doubleheader on Tuesday night when Josh Winder takes the mound against Konnor Pilkington.
