In Extras, Twins Somehow Find a Way to Win a Wild One in Cleveland

At multiple points in Saturday night's game, it seemed like a near certainty that the Twins were going to get walked off by the Cleveland Guardians for what would've been the tenth time in the last five years. Yet somehow, they survived.

Minnesota got two big hits from Byron Buxton, two brilliant defensive plays from Brooks Lee, a strong start from Joe Ryan, and five scoreless innings from their beleaguered bullpen in a 2-1, 11-inning victory at Progressive Field.

This was a wild game that started two hours later than scheduled due to a rain delay. When it finally got going, the game featured 12 different pitchers and just four combined hits for the two teams, including one in the final seven innings.

It's the first time in the long history of Major League Baseball that a game has gone at least 11 innings and both teams had fewer than three hits. It's the first time since 1977 that a team has won a game of at least 11 innings with only two hits.

One of the four hits in the game came on the third pitch of the evening. Buxton delivered a leadoff homer off of Tanner Bibee for his 13th home run in the last 23 games. The Guardians then tied it off of Ryan in the fourth inning when Jose Ramirez singled and stole second, then scored on a Kyle Manzardo single.

After that, there wasn't another hit until the 11th, when Buxton narrowly missed another home run but settled for a go-ahead RBI double high off of the left field wall. All the offense the Twins needed in this one was supplied by their All-Star center fielder, who continues to demolish baseballs.

"We saw tonight why Byron Buxton is who Byron Buxton is," manager Derek Shelton said.

Both Bibee and Ryan were very sharp. Bibee struck out nine over six innings, allowing only the Buxton homer and a couple walks. Ryan struck out five over his six frames, surrendering the two fourth-inning singles and three walks.

From there, it became a bullpen game, which usually doesn't bode well for the Twins. But Andrew Morris and Taylor Rogers got Minnesota through the seventh, and Rogers and newcomer Yoendrys Gomez got the Twins through the eighth.

The bottom of the ninth was the first of two straight innings where a walkoff loss felt inevitable. Remember, the Twins came into this game 7-21 in their last 28 games in Cleveland, with 13 one-run losses and nine walkoff defeats. So when Kody Funderburk walked two straight batters to open the inning, it appeared the Guardians were on their way to yet another walkoff win over the Twins.

Angel Martinez was initially ruled safe on a bunt, but the call was reviewed and overturned. Still, when David Fry was intentionally walked, new Twins pitcher Eric Orze was put in a tough spot. He got through it by getting Brayan Rocchio to ground one to Luke Keaschall, who threw home for the force out, and then getting Steven Kwan to bounce out to Kody Clemens at first base.

The Twins were back in a tough spot when they failed to score the automatic runner at second base in the top of the tenth. Clemens and Matt Wallner, who combined for seven of the Twins' 17 strikeouts in this game, both struck out in the tenth.

In the bottom half, Orze got Chase DeLauter to line out to Clemens, then intentionally walked Ramirez and unintentionally walked Rhys Hoskins to load the bases. That's when Lee saved the game a first time with an incredible diving snag on a Daniel Schneeman line drive up the middle. Travis Bazzana lined out to Austin Martin in left to send the game to the 11th.

The Twins finally took the lead back on Buxton's long double in the top of the 11th. In the bottom half, with Luis Garcia pitching, Lee saved the day a second time. After David Fry flew out weakly with a runner on third and one out, Lee made an incredible sliding play on a Rocchio grounder up the middle, then spun and threw over to Clemens, who scooped it up to end the game in dramatic fashion.

The Twins walked nine batters in this game but allowed just the two singles. The Guardians went 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. The Twins went 1 for 9 with RISP and left six on base. In the end, thanks largely to Buxton and Lee, Orze picked up his first win with the Twins and Garcia recorded his first save with the team.

The Twins (17-23) and Guardians (21-20) will play a rubber game at 12:40 p.m. central on Sunday. Minnesota's scheduled starter, Taj Bradley, landed on the IL on Saturday, so it'll be a bullpen day. Morris will start, and both Kendry Rojas and Travis Adams will likely see the mound after being called up from Triple-A.

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