A Brian Dozier home run off Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen in the eighth inning provided the margin of victory as the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 on Saturday at Progressive Field.
Allen, who was in relief of an impressive Corey Kluber, gave up the home run to the first batter he saw on Saturday — a 3-2 fastball that Dozier deposited into the season in left some 376 feet away. Statcast had the exit velocity at 105.3 mph, as Dozier blasted the fifth straight fastball he saw from Allen after the righty had started him with a knucklecurve out of the zone.
“We got after it,” Dozier told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I’ve never been more proud of the guys, how we battled and competed from the very first pitch. It was the most high-energy game we’ve had in a very long time, just given the circumstances.”
Dozier also told Berardino that he was ready for the fastball on 3-2. “I knew he was coming with the heater,” Dozier said. “There was no way he’s going to risk a leadoff walk and try to throw a curveball. I think it’s too risky.”
Kluber was brilliant over his seven innings of work, scattering three hits and a pair of unearned runs while striking out 13 Twins on the day. He walked just two batters as he lowered his ERA to 3.24 — the lowest it has been all season.
“[Kluber] had about eight [strikeouts], and (umpire Larry Vanover) had about five maybe,” manager Paul Molitor told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “but it’s one of those things that is going to happen. He can make pitches and he can make pitches look good, and their catcher did a nice job. When you know that’s going on you have to be ready to swing.”
The Twins wasted little time putting runs on the board against Kluber in the first, however.
Dozier started the scoring for the Twins by reaching on a throwing error by second baseman Jason Kipnis. He moved to second on a Joe Mauer walk and came around to score on a double by Robbie Grossman. A throwing error from Indians catcher Yan Gomes allowed Mauer to also score on the play, giving the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Twins starter Kyle Gibson lasted just 4.2 innings, but managed to keep the Indians offense in check for the most part despite striking out just one batter with four walks. The only earned run Gibson allowed came off the bat of Jose Ramirez — a solo home run with one out in the fourth. The blast by Ramirez traveled 385 feet to right field, and was a bit of a moon ball with an exit velocity of 104.4 mph.
[BOX SCORE]Gibson struggled with command most of the day, as in addition to the four walks he also only threw 48 of his 93 pitches in the strike zone. He also only threw first-pitch strikes to 8-of-20 batters — something Indians hitters failed to make him pay for. Additionally, he only had four swinging strikes on the day. In all, it was far from an encouraging performance, and Molitor wisely got him out of the game when he did rather than trying to manage to get him the “win” — an otherwise meaningless statistic when it hurts the team’s chances to do just that.
Tyler Duffey threw 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Gibson, and handed the ball off to fellow righty Matt Belisle in the seventh inning with the 2-1 lead intact. Belisle got just two outs, as he allowed singles to Gomes and Austin Jackson before a Francisco Lindor fielder’s choice plus a throwing error by Jorge Polanco allowed Gomes to streak home with the tying run. Taylor Rogers came in and got Ramirez to ground to second after allowing an infield single to Kipnis.
To that end, the Indians had the Twins right where they wanted them. That is, in a tie game with their relievers lined up to squeeze the life out of the Twins offense. That lasted all of six pitches before Dozier gave the Twins back the lead. First baseman Chris Gimenez — who started the day in left field due to the illness of Eddie Rosario and a foot injury to Max Kepler — tacked on an insurance run with a home run of Zach McAllister in the ninth inning as he ripped a 2-2 fastball out to left against his former teammates.
Brandon Kintzler worked around a two-out double from Lindor to post a scoreless ninth for his 20th save of the season. He’s now tied for the AL lead in saves with Boston’s Craig Kimbrel and Tampa Bay’s Alex Colome.
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