MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bo Naylor snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second two-run single of the game, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Friday night for their eighth straight victory.
The Guardians (82-71) won for the 13th time in 14 games to pull within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Tigers in the AL Central. Cleveland was coming off a three-game sweep of Detroit, which lost 10-1 to the visiting Braves on Friday with three games looming in Cleveland next week.
José Ramírez had a two-out double off Cole Sands (4-6) in the eighth and Kyle Manzardo was intentionally walked. Ramírez stole his 40th base and Manzardo followed with his second to set the table for Naylor, who lined a full-count pitch to right field for a 4-2 lead.
Steven Kwan and Angel Martínez had two-out RBI doubles in the ninth off Michael Tonkin to cap the scoring.
Kwan led off the game with a single off Pablo López and Ramírez walked with one out. Both advanced a base when Manzardo flied out to left and Naylor followed with a two-out single to right for a 2-0 lead.
The Twins tied it in the sixth on a wild pitch by Parker Messick and Royce Lewis’ RBI single off Matt Festa.
Messick struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Jakob Junis (4-1) struck out four in two hitless innings for the win.
Lopez left after four innings with right forearm tightness. He allowed two runs on three hits in his third start since missing three months with a right shoulder strain.
Minnesota (66-87) has dropped seven of 10 to the Guardians this season.
Key moment
Naylor’s second go-ahead base hit also kept the Guardians within 1 1/2 games of the final AL wild card.
Key stat
Ramírez played his 1,600th game for Cleveland, third in franchise history behind Terry Turner (1,619) and Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie (1,614).
Up next
Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (6-6, 4.39) will start the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader opposite Twins RHP Joe Ryan (13-8, 3.35). Guardians LHP Logan Allen (7-11, 4.36) and Twins RHP Bailey Ober (5-8, 5.12) will square off in the nightcap.
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