Cleveland Guardians fans are hyped at the moment.
Thanks to Josh Naylor, Andres Gimenez, and some of the most impressive resilience we remember, they have two consecutive walk-off wins against a direct opponent in the quest for the division title, the Minnesota Twins.
They came from behind on Wednesday, when they were losing by three runs and scored four in the bottom of the tenth inning, capped by the Naylor homer.
They did it again on Thursday, this time losing by two runs heading to the eighth frame: first, they tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth, and then Gimenez found a teammate on the basepaths in the ninth and brought him (and himself) home with his blast to center field.
Cleveland Took Advantage Of The Twins Bullpen
It’s a combination of the Twins’ poor bullpen play and the Guardians’ heroics, but the last week and a half has been a dream to Cleveland fans and a nightmare for the Twins.
“Today’s walk-off comes courtesy of Andrés Giménez. The #MNTwins led in the 8th inning or later in all 5 games of this series. They lost 3 of them. In fact…the #MNTwins have faced Cleveland 8 times in the last 10 days. They held a lead in the 8th inning or later in all 8 of those games. They lost 5 of them,” MLB.com’s beat writer for the Twins, Do-Hyoung Park, tweeted.
In fact…
The #MNTwins have faced Cleveland 8 times in the last 10 days. They held a lead in the 8th inning or later in all 8 of those games.
They lost 5 of them. https://t.co/31nPwTEFjw
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) June 30, 2022
Watching the Twins and the Guardians play a lot in the last 10 days, we understand the importance of dominant late-inning relief pitching.
While the Guards have talented pitchers such as Emmanuel Clase, Eli Morgan, Trevor Stephan, Enyel De Los Santos, Sam Hentges, and more; the Twins are forced to send the struggling Emilio Pagan (and others) out more than they probably should.
If Minnesota wants to contend, they need to address their bullpen.
Meanwhile, everything is happiness in Cleveland.
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