Dayne St. Clair screamed and stomped in the first half against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday.

The goalkeeper’s fits were warranted as defenders in front of him let the Loons down in a 2-1 loss at Allianz Field.

MNUFC (11-12-6, 39 points) had a two-game winning streak end, while Cincinnati (17-8-4, 52 points) became the first MLS team to have 10 road wins this season.

The Loons’ problems started midway through the first half.

MNUFC center back Michael Boxall allowed Yuya Kubo to go around him, but St. Clair made a diving fingertip save in the 29th minute. But five minutes later, Kubo outraced Micky Tapias and slotted a shot past St. Clair for a 1-0 lead.

St. Clair shot an arm up in frustration.

Then Bongi Hlongwane, who was playing wingback, jogged back and allowed MLS MVP Luciano Acosta to get a shot on goal.

St. Clair yelled in frustration.

That was followed by Boxall and Tapias allowing Luca Orellano to cut across the field and score a stunning goal in first-half stoppage time to make it 2-0 at the break.

After falling into a two-goal hole, head coach Eric Ramsay pulled out Hlongwane, Joaquin Pereyra and Carlos Harvey at the half, bringing in Tani Oluwaseyi, Wil Trapp and Sang Bin Jeong. It was a big statement from the Loons’ leader.

The Loons got back in the game when Orellano was called for a penalty with a kick to Jeong’s head in the 18-yard box. Kelvin Yeboah converted from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 in the 55th minute. It was the new Italian forward’s third goal in three PKs this season.

Substitute forward Teemu Pukki nearly scored an equalizer in the 88th minute, but the Finn’s curling shot hit the corner of the goalposts. Pukki had another attempt but Roman Celentano made a save late in stoppage time.

Jefferson Diaz also had a quality chance in stoppage time, but his shot was deflected and went over the crossbar.

The Loons made two changes to the starting lineup coming out of Saturday’s 3-1 win at St. Louis: Harvey replaced Trapp in central midfield and Joseph Rosales stepped in for Devin Padelford.

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CLEVELAND — It seemed clear, even before Wednesday’s game started, that if the Twins were going to win, they were going to need their taxed bullpen to step up and relievers to come through in different roles than they’re used to handling.

That meant Louie Varland pitching the eighth inning of a tied game. That meant Jhoan Duran coming in for a second straight day. And that meant Ronny Henriquez trying to nail down a save.

Cleveland Guardians’ Andres Gimenez steals second base beating a tag by Minnesota Twins second baseman Brooks Lee during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Varland and Duran got through their innings. But after Carlos Correa came through with a clutch two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, Henriquez was unable to hold up his end of the bargain.

The Guardians came storming right back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the 10th, the third on a Bryan Rocchio walk-off single, to take 5-4 win over the Twins on Wednesday night at Progressive Field, sending them to yet another crushing defeat.

This one came after Correa’s big swing, which had seemingly put the Twins on a path to victory.

Correa has made a career of stepping up in September and October, when the lights get a little brighter and the pressure is on. After missing months due to plantar fasciitis in his right heel, Correa returned over the weekend, clearly not at 100 percent.

But even when he’s not at his healthiest, the star shortstop has made his impact felt. Correa drove in all four of the Twins’ runs on Wednesday, collecting three hits. Matt Wallner also finished with three hits, and Willi Castro scored a pair of runs.

But despite the efforts of the top of the Twins’ lineup and a dominant outing from Bailey Ober, the Twins weren’t able to scratch out a victory.

With the back of the Twins’ bullpen used heavily recently, the Twins needed Ober to keep Cleveland quiet for as long as he possibly could.

He did just that in a dominant seven-inning effort in which he fed the Guardians a steady dose of changeups and set a new career-high with 12 strikeouts. He made two mistakes to Josh Naylor, who took him deep in both the second and seventh innings, tying the game up twice.

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If everything goes according to plan this week, the Vikings will have star receiver Justin Jefferson available for the Week 3 game against the Houston Texans. That said, Jefferson was listed as a limited participant at practice on Wednesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center.

Though he wouldn’t make any declaration about Jefferson’s prognosis, head coach Kevin O’Connell seemed to be in good spirits when talking about the situation at hand.

“We’re hoping to get him a little bit more work throughout the week as we progress forward,” O’Connell said. “I know Justin is very much looking forward to getting an opportunity to play. If we can avoid any setbacks or things like that.”

The quad injury that Jefferson is working through stemmed from him taking a direct hit from 49ers linebacker Fred Warner in Week 2. After staying down on the field for a prolonged stretch of time, Jefferson had to be helped to the medical tent before retreating to the locker room.

Asked about the quad injury after the game, Jefferson said he isn’t overly concerned about his status moving forward.

As for fellow receiver Jordan Addison, he missed practice on Wednesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center, and his status is very much up in the air. He has not practiced since suffering an ankle injury in the Week 1 game against the New York Giants.

The rest of the injury report for the Vikings included right tackle Brian O’Neill (elbow) and edge rusher Dallas Turner (knee) not practicing, with running back Aaron Jones (hip), center Garrett Bradbury, linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. (quad), and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (foot) listed as limited participants.

Briefly

Though he recovered the onside kick for the Vikings in the win over the 49ers, tight end Nick Muse apparently did it with a small fracture in his hand. As a result, the Vikings have decided to place Muse on short-term injured reserve, meaning he has to miss the next month or so.

“He could play,” O’Connell said. “It would just require him to wear a big old cast on his hand and have that thing wrapped.”

The better option for the Vikings was giving Muse time to get back to full strength.

In a corresponding move, the Vikings signed running back Myles Gaskin to the active roster. He was previously a member of the practice squad.

Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings is helped off the field against the San Francisco 49ers during the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sept. 15, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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