If there was ever a game the Minnesota Twins deserved to win, it was played Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio.
Bailey Ober was brilliant for seven innings, Carlos Correa came up with huge clutch hits and yet it wasn’t enough as a Twins reliever faltered in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians scored three runs to walk-off the Twins with a 5-4 win on Wednesday.
The Detroit Tigers won again, too — sure wish the Kansas City Royals would show a little more fight — so Motown has moved within a half-game of the Twins for the last wild card spot in the American League.
The Twins try to earn a split of the four-game series on Thursday. Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball.
Extra innings…
-The Royals are 82-71, the Twins are 80-72 and the Tigers are 80-73. If the Twins and Royals aren’t careful, the Tigers are going to leapfrog both teams.
-Ober’s line: Ober fanned 12 batters, a new career high, across seven innings with two runs allowed on four hits. He made two mistakes: serving up two solo shots to Josh Naylor.
-Willi Castro, Matt Wallner and Carlos Correa had seven of the Twins’ eight hits and Correa drove in four runs. Other than those three, though, the rest of the starting lineup came up empty. The Twins were 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
-Relievers Louie Varland and Jhoan Duran made scoreless appearances in the eighth and ninth innings, then the ball was handed to 24-year-old Ronny Henriquez who ultimately allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk. Ballgame.
-Castro was hit by two pitches, giving him 21 for the season, a new single-season high for a Twins player.
-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli on the loss:
“We had some guys do some pretty great things out there, but it probably hurts more because we’re fighting for everything right now,” said Baldelli to the Associated Press.
Keep fighting, Rocco.