Alan Roden delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in his season debut, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Roden finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs one day after Minnesota promoted him from Triple-A Saint Paul. Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Twins, who increased their winning streak to four games.
Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in three runs for the Guardians, who took their fourth loss in a row. Rhys Hoskins added a solo home run.
Twins reliever Yoendrys Gomez (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Gomez notched his 10th save one night earlier as the Twins won the series opener 3-1.
Guardians reliever Matt Festa (2-2) allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
Roden provided the heroics on the ninth pitch of his at-bat with two outs in the ninth. He ripped a deep line drive off the wall in right-center field to score Royce Lewis for the win. Clemens walked leading off the inning, Alex Jackson singled with two outs, and Luke Keaschall walked to load the bases and bring up Roden.
Cleveland started the scoring with three runs in the top of the fourth.
Chase DeLauter led off the inning with a single, and Rocchio followed two pitches later with a two-run, 401-foot homer to left. Two pitches after that, Hoskins belted a 383-foot solo shot to left to make it 3-0.
Minnesota responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to even the score.
The Twins loaded the bases with no outs for Lewis, who drew a walk to bring home the team’s first run. Keaschall drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly to center, and Roden made it 3-all with an RBI single to center in the next at-bat.
The Guardians regained the lead with two runs in the seventh.
DeLauter started the scoring with an RBI single to right to drive in Kahlil Watson. Rocchio made it 5-3 as he laid down a sacrifice bunt and Steven Kwan sprinted home.
Erratic pitching cost the Guardians in the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Erik Sabrowski issued back-to-back walks with the bases loaded, to Brooks Lee and Clemens, allowing the Twins to even the score at 5-all.
