The Twins have so often been on the other end of it over the past few years, watching the Guardians raucously celebrate a walk-off win as victory slipped away from their hands.
Wednesday, they returned the favor.
It took nearly two full days to do it, but the Twins and Guardians finally finished Monday night’s game, playing through chilly temperatures and misty rain on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis. After two rain delays Monday and a postponement on Tuesday, the two teams picked up in the fourth inning on Wednesday, with the Twins, who were leading 2-1 at the time the game resumed, eventually coming out on top in a 6-5 walk-off win.
Kody Clemens’ ninth-inning double came after the Guardians had scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game.
“I got some consistent playing time and finally got on time with my swing,” Clemens said. “It’s been a blessing.”
The Twins were one strike away victory earlier in the inning when Bo Naylor smacked a double off the wall in right field off Jhoan Duran, bringing home a pair of runs. The inning had started with Joe Ryan, who was on the mound when the game resumed, allowing a double and a walk before making way for Duran.
Duran couldn’t extract the Twins from the jam.
“Wish we could’ve just closed it out cleanly, but it’s kind of fun to go out there and do your thing,” Ryan said. “Maybe it’s a good thing, burned their reliever there, too. Can look at a positive from that.”
While the Guardians (25-22) decided on a bullpen day for the resumption of the game, the Twins (27-21) rode starter Joe Ryan into the ninth inning. Ryan gave up a home run to former teammate Carlos Santana, who initially showed bunt in his fourth-inning at-bat before blasting Ryan’s sixth pitch of the at-bat pitch out to right. That home run tied the game 2-2 at the time.
“It was tough,” Ryan said of his day. “I’ve been grinding through some stuff for a while now. I think the antibiotics that I’m on right now — I didn’t even wake up for a while so it was kind of hard to get going. … But defense did great, offense was awesome, so, great to get another win.”
The Twins had retaken the lead in the fourth inning after Santana’s home run and they held it until the top of the ninth.
Outfielder Trevor Larnach led off the inning with a single and ended up scoring when Clemens, pinch hitting, hit a ball toward center that outfielder Nolan Jones dove for, despite having seemingly no chance at catching the ball. Larnach scored on the play, and Clemens wound up on third. He scored immediately after on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly. Bader would drive in another run in the eighth inning, bringing home pinch-runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr.
The Twins’ earlier two runs came on RBI knocks from the Ty France in the first inning and Willi Castro in the second off Cleveland starter Logan Allen on Monday. Bailey Ober, who started the game initially, gave up a run in the first inning. He pitched three innings in between rain delays before the game was suspended.
Related Articles
Twins, Guardians washed out again; will attempt to play (almost) two Wednesday
Twins, Guardians game suspended; to be resumed on Tuesday, weather permitting
Kody Clemens makes most of opportunity with Twins
Walks haunt Twins early as Brewers stop Minnesota’s win streak at 13
Carson McCusker is a good-sized Twins roster addition
Leave a Reply