Cleveland Guardians defeat Minnesota Twins 5-2

The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Friday night at Target Field, moving two games ahead of Toronto in the race for the American League’s third wild-card spot.

Angel Martínez led the Guardians' offense with a two-run home run in the seventh inning and a crucial double in the ninth. The ninth-inning rally was completed when Travis Bazzana scored on a wild pitch by Yoendrys Gómez, followed by a two-run double from Brayan Rocchio.

Guardians pitcher Parker Messick provided a solid start, holding the Twins to one run over 5 1/3 innings. Hunter Gaddis pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, and Cade Smith earned his 36th save of the season. For the Twins, Taj Bradley pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts but allowed four walks.

The two teams are scheduled to continue their series with the Guardians expected to start LHP Joey Cantillo and the Twins starting LHP Connor Prielipp.