Matt Wallner had a pair of RBI singles and Willi Castro provided some insurance with a late two-run homer as the visiting Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The Twins (80-71) extended a 2-1 advantage when Castro went deep with a man on and two outs in the eighth inning. Wallner set the stage with a two-out RBI single in the third and by repeating the feat in the fifth as the Twins helped their cause while holding the third and final American League wild-card spot.
Twins starter Zebby Matthews allowed five hits but yielded only one run in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one. Cole Irvin, Cole Sands (9-1), Ronny Henriquez, Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax (ninth save) combined to hold the AL Central-leading Guardians (87-65) to three hits in 4 1/3 shutout innings.
Jax, who allowed Kyle Manzardo’s two-run, go-ahead eighth-inning homer in Minnesota’s 4-3 loss on Monday in the series opener, got the final out with the bases loaded on Tuesday.
Lane Thomas homered and Gavin Williams (3-10) allowed two runs, five hits, two walks and fanned seven in five innings for Guardians, who must wait a bit to clinch their postseason berth.
Minnesota struck first in the third. Ryan Jeffers reached on an infield single, but Williams posted back-to-back strikeouts of Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien. After Byron Buxton drew a walk, Wallner sent a single into right field that plated Jeffers.
The Twins went back ahead with more two-out production in the fifth. Buxton doubled and scored when Wallner came through again, this time dropping a single into right field for a 2-1 Minnesota lead.
Castro then gave the Twins a needed cushion, something they could not do while trying to hold a 3-2 lead on Monday, with his first homer since Aug. 25. The blast, off Nick Sandlin, was Castro’s 12th of the season.
The Guardians placed All-Star left fielder Steve Kwan on the 10-day injured list with mid-back inflammation before the game. Outfielder Myles Straw was promoted from Triple-A Columbus to fill the roster spot.