This was the weekend the Twins needed to respond to AL Central rival Cleveland.
Instead, this is the weekend they returned to .500.
Guardians righthander Triston McKenzie shut out the Twins for seven innings. Chris Archer gave up two runs in the first before leaving an inning later due to injury. Then Cleveland benefited from an erratic Cole Sands as it pulled away to a 6-4 victory on Saturday at Target Field. The Guardians have won the first two games of this series and look to sweep with staff ace Shane Bieber starting on Sunday.
The Twins dropped to 69-69 on the season, their first time at .500 since they were 8-8 on April 24. It was at that point they began playing their best baseball, going 19-8 over their next 27 games to take a 5½-game lead in the division. But mounting injuries ate away at their depth, and their lack of a deep bullpen was exposed. Yet they managed to do enough to stay on top until August, when a youthful Guardians club overtook them.
Now they're having a hard time catching them, as the Twins are 5-8 against them this season and trail them by 3½ games in the AL Central.
"The challenges presented themselves almost immediately today," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I do like what we did. I do like that we get out there and we end up with the go-ahead run at the plate. We certainly had a chance to win the game. But when you're behind like that and in a spot like we were in, it's pretty hard to come back and win those types of ballgames."
The Twins scored four runs in the ninth as Cleveland brought in Bryan Shaw to get some work in. The tying run was on first when Max Kepler grounded out against closer Emmanuel Clase, who replaced Shaw, to end the game.
"Yeah, it's hard when you lose," said Jose Miranda, who singled in the ninth. "Every loss is hard, especially in games like this — against Cleveland — and being able to fight back in the ninth and get close to taking a game away from them.
"It's hard. But it's part of it; you just have to come back tomorrow."
With the season on the line, the Twins are 2-7 in September. And with the White Sox's blasting of Oakland on Saturday, the Twins trail Chicago by two games.
The rail-thin McKenzie is listed at 6-5 and 165 pounds, just five pounds more than the Twins' Nick Gordon. Mr. Stringbean held the Twins hitless the first time through the order, then twice worked out of jams in which there were runners on the corners and one out.
As Cleveland pushes toward the division title, McKenzie, previously 1-5 with a 7.05 ERA against the Twins, has raised his game. The same can't be written about the Twins.
On Saturday, right pectoral tightness knocked Archer out of the game after two innings and 40 pitches. The Twins already trailed 2-0 by then due to a slider that was belted into the stands in left field by Amed Rosario for a two-run home run just five minutes into the game. Archer was being examined after the game.
Sands took over in the third inning and immediately made a meal out of things, walking four and hitting two batters as Cleveland took a 4-0 lead. The Guardians added runs in the fourth and seventh to take a 6-0 lead.
"We need to find ways to stay in these games," Baldelli said. "And we need that from the start. Unfortunately, we haven't had that, and it's made it tough."
