CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Manzardo singled home Brayan Rocchio with one out in the 10th inning for his second walk-off hit of the season, giving the Cleveland Guardians a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
The Guardians loaded the bases against Kody Funderburk (1-1) on a single by Steven Kwan and an intentional walk to José Ramírez. Manzardo brought in automatic runner Rocchio with a liner to left field.
Cade Smith (3-4) pitched the final two innings as Cleveland improved to 9-5 since the All-Star break.
Ramírez drove in Kwan in the first inning, then stole second base to become the 17th player with 275 steals and 275 home runs in a career. He is the first primary third baseman to reach the milestone and the second switch hitter, joining Carlos Beltrán.
Rocchio brought home Carlos Santana in the second to give the Guardians a 2-0 lead against Joe Ryan, who worked six innings. Cleveland starter Gavin Williams struck out eight over six scoreless frames.
Minnesota tied the score at 2-all in the seventh on a throwing error by pitcher Hunter Gaddis, allowing Brooks Lee and Christian Vázquez to come around.
The Twins promoted four pitchers and four position players from Triple-A St. Paul before the game. They made nine trades in the 24 hours preceding Thursday's deadline.
Key moment
Gaddis inexplicably threw the ball toward first on Martin’s infield hit, instead of holding it, and fired a bouncer past first baseman Santana into right field. Both unearned runs were charged to Erik Sabrowski.
Key stat
The Twins had 25 players in uniform, one less than the roster limit, after exchanging 26 total players during their four-day flurry of transactions.
Up next
Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (7-9, 4.39 ERA), who has won three straight starts, pitches on Saturday. Twins' RHP Bailey Ober (4-6, 5.28 ERA) will be activated from the injured list after missing a month with left hip impingement.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Brian Dulik, The Associated Press