Major League Baseball
Minnesota 4, Cleveland 1
When: 6:40 PM ET, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature: 76°
Umpires: Home - Junior Valentine, 1B - Chad Fairchild, 2B - Ryan Wills, 3B - Carlos Torres
Attendance: 17391

Matt Wallner had a pair of RBI singles and Willi Castro provided some insurance with a late two-run homer as the visiting Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night.

The Twins (80-71) extended a 2-1 advantage when Castro went deep with a man on and two outs in the eighth inning. Wallner set the stage with a two-out RBI single in the third and by repeating the feat in the fifth as the Twins helped their cause while holding the third and final American League wild-card spot.

Twins starter Zebby Matthews allowed five hits but yielded only one run in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one. Cole Irvin, Cole Sands (9-1), Ronny Henriquez, Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax (ninth save) combined to hold the AL Central-leading Guardians (87-65) to three hits in 4 1/3 shutout innings.

Jax, who allowed Kyle Manzardo's two-run, go-ahead eighth-inning homer in Minnesota's 4-3 loss on Monday in the series opener, got the final out with the bases loaded on Tuesday.

Lane Thomas homered and Gavin Williams (3-10) allowed two runs, five hits, two walks and fanned seven in five innings for Guardians, who must wait a bit to clinch their postseason berth.

Minnesota struck first in the third. Ryan Jeffers reached on an infield single, but Williams posted back-to-back strikeouts of Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien. After Byron Buxton drew a walk, Wallner sent a single into right field that plated Jeffers.

Cleveland answered in the fourth. With one out, Thomas sent Matthews' fastball just over the 19-foot wall in left-center field to tie the contest. It was Thomas' 13th homer of the year.

The Twins went back ahead with more two-out production in the fifth. Buxton doubled and scored when Wallner came through again, this time dropping a single into right field for a 2-1 Minnesota lead.

Castro then gave the Twins a needed cushion, something they could not do while trying to hold a 3-2 lead on Monday, with his first homer since Aug. 25. The blast, off Nick Sandlin, was Castro's 12th of the season.

The Guardians placed All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan on the 10-day injured list with mid-back inflammation before the game. Outfielder Myles Straw was promoted from Triple-A Columbus to fill the roster spot.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Minnesota   Cleveland
Zebby Matthews Player Gavin Williams
No Decision W/L Loss
4.2 IP 5.0
5 Strikeouts 7
5 Hits 5
1.93 ERA 3.60
Hitting
Minnesota   Cleveland
Matt Wallner Player Will Brennan
2 Hits 2
2 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 2
.667 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Minnesota 8 1 12 .235 13 10 4 4 1 0
Cleveland 8 1 12 .242 12 9 1 2 0 0