No one said this was going to be easy.
The Twins scored first, the Cleveland Guardians chipped away to take the lead and then Emmanuel Clase, the best closer in the game, locked down the game for his 46th save and a 4-3 win in Game 1 of this all-important series between the Twins and Guards.
The Detroit Tigers edged the Kansas City Royals on Monday, so the Twins’ lead for the final AL wild card spot has slipped to 1.5 games over the Tigers and 2 games over the idle Mariners.
Although the Twins took the early 3-0 lead, it wasn’t exactly the offensive output they needed. They scored those runs on a two-run single and passed ball, but were otherwise 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.
Pablo Lopez made a quality start, but he exited the game in the seventh inning with one out and the bases loaded. Reliever Griffin Jax got out of that inning, but he did not survive the eighth when he served up a double and home run. Jax was tagged with the loss and the blown save, his sixth of the season.
Zebby Matthews gets the ball Tuesday.
Extra innings…
-The Twins are 79-71. There are 12 games left in the 2024 season.
-Lopez’s line: Two runs allowed across six-plus innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Sixty-one of his 92 pitches landed for strikes.
-Jax’s line: Two runs allowed on two hits, including a home run, with three strikeouts across four outs. He is now 4-5 with a 2.18 ERA.
-Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is most likely the AL Cy Young award winner with his 16-4 record and 2.50 ERA. But if he isn’t, then give it to closer Clase, who has pitched to a 0.65 ERA across 69-plus innings this season with the aforementioned 46 saves. Talk about dominant.
-Lopez on the loss: “Our margin of error keeps shrinking and shrinking,” he told MLB.com. “Now, it’s to the point where you’ve got to take it one day at a time, one pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time. Today will be a tough pill to swallow.”