CLEVELAND, Ohio — A season of unexpected success will continue into October for the Cleveland Guardians who clinched a spot in Major League Baseball’s postseason with a 3-2 win in 10 innings Thursday against the Twins at Progressive Field.
Andrés Giménez drilled an RBI single into right field off Twins lefty Caleb Thielbar to score automatic runner José Ramírez for Cleveland’s second straight walkoff win and seventh of the season.
The Guardians are 10-3 in extra-inning games and notched their 41st comeback win while improving the best home record in the AL to 48-28.
Giménez’s base hit touched off a wild celebration between first and second base. It was the fourth career walk-off plate appearance for Giménez and his second this season.
The Guardians were not a popular pick to reach the playoffs when the season started, but have spent the last 23 weeks perched atop the American League Central Division, yielding sole possession of the division’s top spot for only one day when they shared the position with Kansas City last month.
Cleveland, behind first-year manager Stephen Vogt, became the second team in the AL to claim a spot in the playoffs behind the Yankees, who punched their ticket late Wednesday in Seattle. It marks the 17th playoff appearance in franchise history for the club with baseball’s longest World Series Championship drought, a dry spell that dates back to 1948.
Guardians rookie Joey Cantillo pitched into the fifth inning before turning things over to the top-ranked bullpen in baseball. Cleveland relievers tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, holding the Twins hitless and striking out eight.
Minnesota threatened to score in the top of the 10th as Eli Morgan loaded the bases by hitting Matt Wallner with a pitch and walking Manuel Margot. But Morgan retired Carlos Correa on a pop to first base in foul territory and got escaped the inning when Byron Buxton sent a fly ball to Lane Thomas in right for the final out. Morgan (3-0, 1.64) earned his third win while Thielbar (3-4, 5.65) lost for just the second time in his last 14 appearances.
Cantillo was brilliant through four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth when Kyle Farmer led off with a double and Willi Castro walked to set up a two-run double by Margot. Cantillo worked ahead in the count, but left a changeup over the middle of the plate that Margot drilled to the gap in left center.
Thomas cut the ball off, but did not handle the bounce cleanly, allowing Castro to come all the way around and score for a 2-1 Twins lead. Nick Sandlin relieved Cantillo and walked Carlos Correa before striking out Byron Buxton and Carlos Santa to end the inning.
Cleveland tied the score in the bottom of the sixth after loading the bases against Minnesota lefty Cole Irvin. Base hits by Josh Naylor, Andrés Giménez and Jhonkensy Noel set the stage for a Brayan Rocchio RBI sacrifice fly to center that knotted the score at two runs apiece.
Cantillo struck out six and walked three, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits in his third start since rejoining the roster Sept. 9 when Alex Cobb went on the injured list with blisters on his right hand. Since his return, Cantillo has logged at least four scoreless innings in each outing, including six perfect frames against the White Sox and 21 strikeouts to go along with four walks in 16 innings.
Rookie designated hitter Kyle Manzardo, batting second in Vogt’s lineup for the first time in his rookie season, opened the scoring when he yanked a changeup from Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson into the seats in right for his fourth home run and second of the series. Manzardo added a one-out single in the third and a check-swing infield hit in the fifth for his fourth multi-hit game in 16 September appearances.
Manzardo entered Thursday’s game batting .357 (15 for 42) with four home runs, seven RBI and a 1.104 OPS in 16 games since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sept. 1.
Next: The Guardians head out on their final road trip of the regular season with three games in St. Louis beginning Friday at Busch Stadium. First pitch is set for 8:15 p.m. Right-hander Ben Lively (12-9, 3.87) will start for Cleveland, while righty Kyle Gibson (8-7, 4.11) takes the mound for the Cardinals. The game will air on Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM. and the Guardians Radio Network.
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