Rhys Hoskins Rewrites 2026 Narrative With Incredible Showing Against Twins

The Cleveland Guardians may have struggled this past weekend in a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but on Monday night, the offense looked brand new.

Jul 8, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cleveland Guardians first baseman Rhys Hoskins (8) celebrates hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins in the fourth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When it rains, it pours.

And on Monday, July 20, it was raining homers at Progressive Field.

On a relatively cool night in Cleveland, Ohio, the Cleveland Guardians came to play. Across nine innings of action, the Guardians' bats hung a whopping 13 runs on the heads of the Minnesota Twins' pitching staff, with the pitching staff holding the team up north's bats to just four.

Leading the charge for the Guardians at the plate was a combination of players.

Travis Bazzana smashed a home run and finished the game with a 3-for-5 line from the plate, while Rhys Hoskins and Petey Halpin each blasted two home runs. Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey also had excellent nights, and while just Bailey hit a home run, they both went 4-for-5 with two or more RBI.

That type of production from Cleveland's bats is nearly unfathomable, especially given how rocky the road was this past weekend. However, it was a sigh of relief to see things go so well.

While Brayan Rocchio, who has had such a strong year for Cleveland, didn't immediately pull headlines nor get mentioned in the cluster of electrifying performances, he was the one to open the outing up.

In the bottom of the first inning, he belted a two-run homer to put the team up early. It would be his ninth blast of the campaign. From there, Hoskins made it 3-0 on the very next at-bat with a homer of his own.

Such an early start set the stage for the Guardians to pull away, and although starting pitcher Tanner Bibee wavered a bit, it wasn't enough to spark a comeback.

He ended up pitching through six innings, allowing just six hits, one walk and two earned runs, while striking out five batters. His season ERA has dropped to 3.86.

The Guardians' coaching staff trotted out Colin Holderman and Matt Festa for the seventh and eighth innings, where each ended up giving up a run, before they turned to Shawn Armstrong to finish out the game in the ninth inning. Unlike the two before, he would allow nothing to get across home plate.

With a 13-4 final score put in the books, for the first time this season, Cleveland's offense truly erupted.

Looking to keep this momentum going, the Guardians and Twins are right back in action on Tuesday, July 21, at 6:40 p.m. EST. As they did on Monday night, they'll hope to keep the Twins at bay.