CLEVELAND – For all the determined talk, for all the sincere intent, the Twins' chances of winning the AL Central are fading away in a shockingly hushed manner this weekend.
One day after a calamitous collapse in the late innings, the Twins suffered in silence Saturday, managing only four lonely hits in a 5-1 loss to the Guardians, the first game of a day-night doubleheader. The Twins' seventh consecutive loss to Cleveland drops them six games back of the AL Central leaders, and guarantees that even a miraculous turnaround in their fortunes over the final three games here would still leave them three games back in a race they must win outright to qualify for the postseason.
And though the stakes were high, the game never felt particularly competitive. Shane Bieber, a former Cy Young Award winner and serial Twins tormenter — Cleveland has won 13 of his 15 career starts against the Twins — suffocated a makeshift lineup. Bieber struck out six, never walked a batter, and until Matt Wallner's home run in the eighth inning in his major league debut, didn't allow a batter to reach third base.
