Field Level Media
02 Jun 2023, 12:55 GMT+10
Willi Castro hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins rallied to defeat the Cleveland Guardians 7-6 in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday at Minneapolis.
Christian Vazquez led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk off Guardians reliever Eli Morgan (2-1), and pinch runner Ryan Jeffers advanced to third on a double by Jorge Polanco.
Alex Kirilloff was then walked intentionally to load the bases, and Castro, who entered the game in the seventh inning when Max Kepler left due to a migraine, followed with fly ball to right to easily drive in Jeffers.
Royce Lewis hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth and Michael A. Taylor also homered for the Twins. Minnesota's Donovan Solano had two hits, including an RBI double, and Vazquez went 2-for-3. Griffin Jax (3-6) picked up the win with an scoreless inning of relief.
Mike Zunino had a two-run single to highlight a five-run sixth inning that saw Cleveland chase Minnesota starter Pablo Lopez. Will Brennan and Gabriel Arias each added two hits apiece for the Guardians.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Andres Gimenez led off with a bloop double down the left field line and scored two outs later on single by Brennan.
Minnesota tied it in the fourth when Kirilloff led off with a walk, went to second when Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch and scored on a single by Kepler.
The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Taylor led off with his seventh homer of the season. Vazquez followed with a double and later scored on a single by Kirilloff.
Cleveland rebounded to take a 6-3 lead in the sixth parlaying a walk and six singles into five runs. Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell sandwiched RBI singles around an RBI groundout by Gimenez. Zunino capped the rally with a two-run, bases-loaded single under the glove of a diving Lewis at third base.
Minnesota rallied to tie it 6-6 in the eighth against Cleveland reliever Trevor Stephan. Castro led off with an infield single and then scored on a double by Solano into the gap in left-center. One out later, Lewis tied it with his second home run of the season, a 421-foot drive to center.
Buxton left in the fifth inning with rib soreness after getting hit in the ribs with a Tanner Bibee fastball an inning earlier.
Bibee, the Cleveland starter, yielded three runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out six.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of BC Post news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to BC Post.
More InformationMADISON, Wisconsin: Last week, five flamingos were seen along a Lake Michigan beach in Wisconsin, attracting a large crowd of ...
LONDON, UK: The UK government said over the weekend that it could downscale the scope of the High Speed 2 ...
LAHAINA, Hawaii: This week, officials are expected to begin lifting restrictions on entry to the burn zone in Lahaina, Hawaii, ...
LONG ISLAND, New York: On Thursday, a bus carrying members of a high school marching band traveling to a music ...
GAINESVILLE, Florida: Local police report stopping children, ages 10 and 11, who had driven their family car 200 miles, in ...
Washington, D.C.: This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suspended 96-year-old Judge Pauline Newman from hearing ...
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 26 (ANI): Actor Shraddha Kapoor on Tuesday congratulated the Indian women's cricket team for clinching the ...
(Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports) The American League West-leading Texas Rangers will turn to rookie left-hander Cody Bradford on ...
(Photo credit: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports) The Seattle Mariners aren't in must-win mode just yet, but it's getting close. The ...
(Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports) Two teams taking different approaches to the final week of the regular season ...
(Photo credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports) Justin Verlander turned in a vintage performance, taking a shutout into the ninth inning ...
(Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports) Adolis Garcia, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe hit back-to-back-to back home runs and Jon ...