David Fry and José Ramírez both hit home runs, and the Cleveland Guardians managed to hold on and defeat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Sunday, splitting the four-game series between the top teams in the AL Central.
The Guardians won their second straight game after a seven-game losing streak and now lead the Twins by 3 1/2 games, with Kansas City four games back.
Emmanuel Clase had a tense ninth inning for his 35th save, as Minnesota loaded the bases with no outs. Willi Castro struck out on a full count, and Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play, started by a backhand stop by second baseman Andrés Giménez.
“In that AB I wanted to get a ground ball to him. I was lucky to get it, and I always have 100% confidence in him,” Clase said through an interpreter.
Cleveland rebounded well in the series after being swept in Friday’s doubleheader.
“To come back and win the next two, even that last inning where they get bases loaded and no outs to get out of it was really cool,” Fry said.
Byron Buxton homered twice for Minnesota, which fell to 2-7 against Cleveland this season.
Manager Rocco Baldelli was pleased with how the Twins played during the series.
“We had several innings where we whacked the ball all around the ballpark and we end up scoring no runs,” he said. “Stuff where you think it’s almost impossible not to score.
The vast majority of them it’s not like our guys did anything too wrong, they just hit the ball too hard and hit the ball right at people. If one or two of those runs come into play, we’re in a good spot.”
The Guardians took control of the game with a four-run sixth inning. With one out, Fry hit a home run off Caleb Thielbar (2-3) for just his third extra-base hit in 27 games. Before the 405-foot shot to the left of the bullpens, the American League All-Star was in a 4-for-32 slump.
“He’s a warrior, he’s been playing through a lot of things,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “When he’s at his best he’s driving the ball up the middle and you make a mistake he pops one. That was a huge moment for us.”
