Bullpen debacle continues as Guardians walk-off Twins again
Just when you think it can't get any worse, the Twins took the field and found another way to blow a late lead and lose to the Cleveland Guardians in walk-off fashion.
Thursday's debacle featured Tyler Thornburg giving up the tying two-run single to meek-hitting Myles Straw in the eighth and then serving up a two-run homer to Andrés Giménez in the bottom of the ninth, giving Cleveland a 5-3 victory and their second walk-off over the Twins in as many days.
Don't sleep on Andrés Giménez.#ForTheLand | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/ARaeODjb4y
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 30, 2022
What's more is that it's now five times in the past eight games against Cleveland that Minnesota's bullpen has blown the lead in the eighth inning or later, all five resulting in losses.
Emilio Pagan and Jharel Cotton were to blame for the previous four meltdowns, but this time around it was all on Thornburg, who hit a batter and then walked the bases full before Straw's big single in the eighth, and then he walked another batter in the ninth before the walk-off dinger.
Had the Twins won each of those five games where they led in the eighth inning or later, their lead in the AL Central would be 11 games over the Guardians. Instead, they leave Cleveland Thursday with a measly one-game cushion atop the division – and a million questions about how they can possibly be considered a contender with a bullpen in shambles.
Meanwhile, Jose Miranda had a three-run double against Shane Bieber in the third inning, and that's all the offensive the Twins could muster. all the Twins got on the day.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.