Swept away: Cleveland Guardians lose both games of doubleheader to Minnesota Twins

Matt Wallner went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in the second game of a doubleheader Friday night in Minneapolis.

Willi Castro stole home for the Twins, who won both games of the day-night doubleheader. Minnesota moved within 1½ games of Cleveland for first place in the American League Central.

Josh Naylor hit a three-run homer to lead Cleveland at the plate. The Guardians lost their seventh game in a row, extending their worst streak of the season.

Twins right-hander Cole Sands (6-1) pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory. Sands followed starter Louie Varland, who allowed three runs on eight hits in 4⅔ innings.

Guardians right-hander Alex Cobb (0-1) lost his season debut as well as his team debut. He gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits in 4⅔ innings.

Twins reliever Trevor Richards earned his first save of the season and the second save of his career. He pitched a scoreless ninth and struck out one.

Castro gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first when he stole home. It was his 12th steal of the season and his second of the day after he swiped a bag in the opening game of the doubleheader.

Christian Vazquez made it 2-0 in the second when he scored on a throwing error by Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio.

Naylor put Cleveland on top 3-2 in the fifth with a three-run blast to right field. The shot gave him 26 homers and 85 RBIs for the season.

In the bottom of the fifth, Wallner answered with his own three-run blast to give the Twins a 5-3 lead. It was his seventh homer.

Minnesota finished the scoring with one more run in the seventh. Vazquez scored on a balk by Guardians reliever Tim Herrin.

Carlos Santana, Ryan Jeffers lead Twins over Guardians in first game of doubleheader

Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each homered, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians to claim the first game of a doubleheader Friday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer added one RBI apiece for Minnesota, which snapped a two-game skid.

Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run homer to lead the Guardians at the plate. Cleveland lost its sixth game in a row, which is its longest drought of the season.

The Guardians' lead in the American League Central dwindled to 2.5 games over the Twins.

Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-5) fired six scoreless innings and struck out nine. He held Cleveland to two hits and two walks.

Ober notched his ninth consecutive quality start. He also earned his fourth straight victory.

Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo (0-2) remained winless in his third career start. He gave up three runs on five hits in 5⅔ innings.

Twins closer Jhoan Duran struck out the side in the ninth to collect his 16th save.

The Twins opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Manuel Margot hit a leadoff double, advanced to third base on a flyout to right field and scored on Lewis' groundout to third.

Minnesota made it 2-0 in the second. Santana led off the inning with his 15th home run of the season, a 413-foot shot over the wall in left field.

Jeffers added a solo shot in the fourth to boost the Twins' lead to 3-0. With two outs, he jumped on a first-pitch fastball for his team-leading 17th homer.

Cleveland cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seventh when Rocchio drilled a 367-foot shot to right-center field for a two-run homer.

Rocchio's blast also scored Andres Gimenez, who singled to lead off the inning. It was the fifth homer for Rocchio, a 23-year-old from Venezuela.

Minnesota increased its lead to 4-2 in the seventh when Farmer hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Max Kepler from third base.

The game was made up from April 7, when inclement weather forced a postponement of the originally scheduled game.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Swept away: Cleveland Guardians lose both games of doubleheader to Minnesota Twins