Clement scores from 2nd on wild pitch, Guardians top Twins
CLEVELAND (AP) ā Pinch-runner Ernie Clement raced home from second base on a wild pitch in the eighth inning for the go-ahead run and the AL-Central leading Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in the opener of a crucial five-game series.
Clement ran for Josh Naylor, who led off the eighth with a single and took second on Oscar Gonzalezās single. Jhoan Duranās 2-1 pitch to AndreĢs GimeĢnez bounced in front of catcher Gary SaĢnchez and went back to the screen on the fly.
SaĢnchez couldnāt find the ball initially and Clement rounded third and slid headfirst into the home plate, beating SaĢnchez's throw.
Clement heeded Naylor's advice when manager Terry Francona sent him in to pinch-run.
āAs Iām coming in, Naylor stopped me and said āHey, be ready for a dirt ball,āā Clement said. āSo obviously if thereās a dirt ball Iāve got to get my butt to third. I was just running until (third base coach Mike Sarbaugh) stopped me and he never did, so I just kept going.ā
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The crowd of 20,669 was on its feet and Clement was celebrated by his teammates when he got back to the dugout.
āThatās as cool as it gets,ā he said. āItās got that playoff atmosphere and the energy the crowd brought, it kept us in it because we were down early. Especially with this team, weāre never out of a game. Everybody on the bench knows that.ā
Cleveland leads third-place Minnesota by five games and has clinched the season series with a 10-5 edge, giving the Guardians the tiebreaker. The teams play a day-night doubleheader Saturday followed by games Sunday and Monday.
Cleveland swept a three-game series at Target Field last weekend and has won six straight over the Twins. The Guardians also gained a game on the Chicago White Sox, who lost 3-2 to Detroit in 10 innings.
The Guardians are 32-15 in games decided in the seventh inning or later, which is both fun and nerve-wracking for Francona.
āI donāt think youāre ever too old to ā Iām nervous as hell,ā he said. āAnd I donāt mean that in a bad way. It was exciting. Guys work all winter and all spring and play all year and you have the right to play in a game thatās this exciting. Thatās great. Embrace it.ā
The loss was difficult for the Twins, who seemed to be in position to cut another game into Cleveland's lead.
āItās very hard," manager Rocco Baldelli said. āThat was a very tough ballgame to watch because weāre feeling good with a lot of things that weāre doing. We had some big swings, we made some plays, guys were pitching good. There was a lot going real well.ā
Trevor Stephan (6-4) pitched a scoreless eighth while Emmanuel Clase gave up an infield hit in the ninth, but got Gilberto Celestino on a groundout for his 36th save.
Duran (2-4) allowed a run in the eighth.
Bailey Ober allowed one hit over five innings in his first start since June 1 and Jake Cave hit a two-run homer in the fourth as Minnesota took a 3-0 lead, but Cleveland rallied in the seventh.
Second baseman Nick Gordonās throwing error on GimeĢnezās grounder started the seventh. GimeĢnez took third on pinch-hitter Owen Millerās single and scored on Myles Strawās one-out single. Jose Miranda made a diving stop at first base on Steven Kwanās grounder, but the runners moved up a base and scored on Amed Rosarioās single.
āWe didnāt play perfectly clean baseball ... We needed to really play an incredibly, crisp solid all-around game to get where we needed to be," Baldelli said. "It wasnāt crisp enough.ā
Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie allowed three runs in seven innings.
TRAINERāS ROOM
Twins: Minnesota is trying to stay in the race despite a lengthy injury list, with second baseman Jorge Polanco (knee inflammation), center fielder Byron Buxton (hip strain), left fielder Alex Kirilloff (wrist inflammation), outfielder Kyle Garlick (left wrist sprain) and right fielder Max Kepler (bruised leg, sore wrist) all sidelined. Kepler is the only one not on the injured list. ... Gordon was removed from the game after fouling a ball off his left foot in the eighth. ... Polanco played second base in a rehab game Friday night for Triple-A St. Paul.
Guardians: RHP Aaron Civale (elbow) is scheduled to start Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox. He allowed two home runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings on a rehab start for Triple-A Columbus on Thursday.
UP NEXT
The Twins will add LHP Louie Varland (0-0, 3.38 ERA) as the 29th man to start Saturdayās first game against Cleveland RHP Shane Bieber (10-8, 2.91 ERA). RHP Josh Winder (4-4, 3.83 ERA) will start the second game for Minnesota against LHP Konnor Pilkington (1-2, 4.30 ERA) who will be the Guardiansā 29th man.
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