Series Review: The Cleveland Guardians walk-off with the series win over the Minnesota Twins

The Cleveland Guardians took the five-game series from the Minnesota Twins.

The Cleveland Guardians had a rocky road heading into the Twins series. Dropping five in a row was a rough one, but potentially getting swept by the Twins would’ve been a mid-season dagger to the heart.

The Guardians didn’t let that happen, however, and mounted three-come-from-behind wins in this series alone, two of which were walk-off wins via the long ball. Being able to come back from a deficit in the later innings is going to be key for this team heading into the latter part of the year.

They’re clearly built to win and have a swagger past teams just don’t. Heading into the seventh and later innings, this team is no longer viewed as “out of it” and that’s a problem for any team they’re facing.

That said, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows this series. While the pitching mostly looked good, one name that has been struggling as late is Triston McKenzie. The young pitcher has had a June to forget with an ERA of 6.44 ERA. Once, looking like the Guardians Cy Young candidate and potential All-Star, now his ERA is over 4.00 on the year and is looking like anything but.

Is this the fatigue of the season catching up to the young thrower, or is there something else going on? Hopefully, he can write his wrongs as he’s a very important piece for this team.

Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins series review

Game 1 – Twins Win (11-1)

Triston McKenzie gave up seven runs on just six hits and doomed the Guardian early. Giving up two home runs didn’t help anything either.

Game 2 – Guardians Win (3-2)

A good outing by Zach Plesac set up the Guardians to come back from 2-1 in the bottom of the eight and get the win. Amed Rosario knocked in the go-ahead run, while Emmanuel Clase shut the door in the ninth

Game 3 – Twins Win (6-0)

Konnor Pilkington gave up four runs in the third and the fifth innings, while the offense sputtered and produced just five hits on the day.

Game 4 – Guardians Win (7-6)

Cal Quantrill went eight innings and had a great night of pitching but needed the offense to bale out the team in extra innings. Josh Naylor did just that, capping off a four-run 10th that saw him hit a walk-off home run to win.

Game 5 – Guardians Win (5-3)

Another walk-off win for the Cleveland Guardians, as Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan, Bryan Shaw, and Emmanuel Clase combined for a great day of pitching. Myles Straw, Steven Kwan, and Andres Gimenez were the heroes of the day.

Series Standouts

Zach Plesac

7.0 IP, 7 K’s, 0 Runs

Emmanuel Clase

3.0 IP, 2 Ks, 1 Win, 1 Save

Amed Rosario

9-20, 3 RBI, 2 Runs