Guardians Split Four-Game Series With Twins
The Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins were the two favorites to win the division heading into the 2023 MLB season. The Detroit Tigers have asserted themselves as a threat with a strong month of May, but it still feels like the Guardians and Twins have an upper hand.
Each meeting with a division rival is important, especially in 2023. Matchups in a team's own division have diminished with the adjusted schedule where every team plays each other.
Thankfully, the Guardians haven't let Minnesota get the best of them yet.
The Twins took the first two games of their recent series, threatening to build an even bigger lead over Cleveland in the Central. The Guardians let a late lead sleep away in game one thanks to a game-tying homer from Royce Lewis in the eighth inning. The Twins went on to win on a walk-off sacrifice fly.
Cleveland was shutout in the second game and showed little life on offense even with a fantastic start from Aaron Civale.
That brings us to the final games of the series. The two games that Cleveland won.
Saturday night was a gritty effort by a team facing Sonny Gray, one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. They hit two unexpected home runs courtesy of Steven Kwan and Will Brennan that led them to a 4-2 victory.
The series finale had many eyes on it because of Triston McKenzie's long-awaited return to the mound and he didn't disappoint. He struck out 10 Twins in just 5.0 innings of work.
The offense struggled against Joe Ryan who had seen the minimum until Josh Naylor blasted a double off the right field wall scoring Jose Ramirez. He missed a homer by just a few feet. Andres Gimenez was the next man up and drove home Naylor on an RBI triple.
The bullpen was able to hold on and give Cleveland a 2-1 victory.
This is the second series between the Twins and Guardians this season and Cleveland is 4-7 in those matchups. They won't see each other again until the last week of August they'll play six times in 10 days.
There's a good chance that those games could be for the division crown!
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Read More:
Three Takeaways From Triston McKenzie's Season Debut
Two Unlikely Home Runs Lift Guardians Over Twins
Guardians Designate Zach Plesac For Assignment
Cleveland Makes Multiple Roster Moves
Aaron Civale's Tremendous Outing In First Start Back From Injury
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Photo Credit © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
