Major League Baseball
Cleveland 5, Minnesota 2
When: 1:10 PM ET, Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 74°
Umpires: Home - Jose Navas, 1B - John Tumpane, 2B - Hunter Wendelstedt, 3B - Derek Thomas
Attendance: 20169

Kole Calhoun hit a two-out, three-run homer in the 10th inning as the Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the deciding game of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Calhoun, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash on Aug. 4, smashed a 3-0 fastball by Minnesota reliever Kody Funderburk 433 feet into the second deck in right-center for his third homer of the season, driving in automatic runner Bo Naylor and Jose Ramirez, who was intentionally walked.

Steven Kwan had two hits for the Guardians, including a double with an RBI, and Will Brennan also had two hits as Cleveland moved to within five games of the first-place Twins in the American League Central.

The Guardians and Twins meet again for a three-game series that starts on Monday at Cleveland.

Cleveland's Trevor Stephan (6-4) struck out the side in the ninth to pick up the win and Emmanuel Clase pitched a perfect 10th inning to earn his 36th save.

Jorge Polanco had two hits, two walks and two RBIs for Minnesota and Donovan Solano also had two hits and scored a run. Emilio Pagan (5-2) took the loss.

The Twins opened the scoring by taking a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Matt Wallner led off with a walk and Solano had a one-out single. Edouard Julien walked to load the bases and Polanco singled to drive in Wallner and Solano.

Cleveland cut it to 2-1 in the eighth when Gabriel Arias led off with a hustle double to right-center against reliever Griffin Jax, advanced to third on a groundout by Myles Straw and scored on an opposite-field single to left by Kwan.

The Guardians then tied it 2-2 in the ninth against Twins closer Jhoan Duran. Andres Gimenez walked with one out and Will Brennan followed with a single. After both runners advanced on a groundout by Arias, Gimenez scored on a wild pitch.

Twins starter Sonny Gray allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings and struck out five while lowering his ERA to an American League-best 2.92.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cleveland   Minnesota
Tanner Bibee Player Sonny Gray
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 7.0
8 Strikeouts 5
4 Hits 3
3.60 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Cleveland   Minnesota
Will Brennan Player Jorge Polanco
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 2
0 HR 0
2 TB 3
.500 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cleveland 7 1 12 .200 17 7 4 4 1 0
Minnesota 4 0 5 .125 17 14 2 5 0 0