Joe Ryan did little to improve his late-season resume, allowing four homers in five unexciting innings of work, as the Cleveland Guardians shut out the Twins 6-0 in game one.
It was just one of those days for a team that has racked up more of these days than one can count. Jose Ramirez joined the 30-30 club with a first-inning jack, and was followed in the solo homer parade by Bo Naylor and George Valera in in the second, then Daniel Schneemann in the fifth.
Naylor had another one in the eighth off
Travis Adams, who pitched his traditional four innings of relief work to save the bullpen for the second game.
Offensively, the Twins earned only two hits off Slade Cecconi in a 7-inning, 8-strikeout effort. Two of those hits belonged to Austin Martin, and the third went to Luke Keaschall.
A pair of walks to Ryan Fitzgerald accounted for the only other Minnesota baserunners.
Were it not for the greater postseason implications, this may well have been one of the most insignificant and forgettable games of the seasons.
But the Tigers already lost this afternoon, a 6-5 defeat to the visiting Atlanta Braves in a game they were leading 5-4 headed into the ninth. Combine that with Cleveland’s shutout victory to start the Saturday set, and the AL Central is as tight as ever, with a mere game and a half separating the Guardians from first place. With a win in the nightcap, Cleveland could be within an even game.
I don’t share the same vitriol for the Guardians as many Twins fans do — perhaps it’s my inability to divorce the 2000s-era Chicago White Sox from the part of my brain responsible for rivalry development. But even if I did, I’d be hard-pressed not to root for what would amount to one of the league’s most improbable comebacks if the Tigers were to capitulate this division — not to mention a monumental, generational collapse if Detroit hands over the keys to their playoff seed.
Doubleheader sweeps are rare, but with a Twins team like this, and a Guardians team like that, it’s not out of the question.
See you in a bit!
STUDS:
RP Travis Adams (4 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 2 K, HR)
DUDS:
SP Joe Ryan (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4 HR)
Twins Offense (3-for-28, 2 BB, 10 K)
The Pohlad Family
