Twins swept again as Will Brennan walks it off for Guardians

Brennan hit a three-run, walk-off homer in the ninth inning of Jhoan Duran.

May 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) celebrates | Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Will Brennan hit a walk-off, three-run homer off Twins reliever Jhoan Duran to power the Cleveland Guardians to a 5-2 victory and series sweep Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. 

The Twins were swept for the second straight series and lost their sixth straight overall.

The Twins (24-22) tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning when Alex Kirilloff reached on an error by Guardians first baseman Emmanuel Clase on an infield hit, and Byron Buxton took off from second base to home plate to score the tying run. 

That left Minnesota just an inning away from forcing extras with Duran on the mound, typically a situation the Twins would feel good about. But while Duran got two outs, he issued walks to Andres Gimenez and Josh Naylor before Brennan brought them all in with a 345-foot shot to right field. 

Chris Paddack put together a strong and deep start for the Twins, allowing just two runs on eight hits while fanning six. Those two runs both came in the first inning when Gimenez hit a 412-foot, two-run homer to center field to give the Guardians (30-17) a 2-0 lead. 

The Twins got one run back when Jose Miranda hit a 379-foot solo homer to left-center field in the third inning off Guardians starter Tanner Bibee. But the Twins couldn’t get much else off Bibee, who gave up just the one run off four hits while fanning eight across seven innings. 

It remained a 2-1 game until Buxton tied it up by scoring on the error in the eighth inning. 

The Twins will look to regroup from their second straight series sweep and six-game skid when they visit the Washington Nationals on Monday for a 5:45 p.m. first pitch.