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Twins blow it late again in crushing loss to Cleveland

Minnesota couldn't hold onto a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning.

Joe Nelson

Twins blow it late again in crushing loss to Cleveland
Twins blow it late again in crushing loss to Cleveland /

Leading 3-0 and just nine outs away from a critical victory, the Minnesota Twins melted down and lost 4-3 in the opening of a five-game series against division rival Cleveland Friday night. 

Things started to unravel in the seventh inning after a Nick Gordon throwing error set the stage for the Guardians to rally, scoring their first run on a single to center by Myles Straw and then Amed Rosario hitting a soft liner over shortstop to score two runs and tie the game 3-3.

Those runs were charged to Caleb Thielbar and Griffin Jax. 

Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Twins star rookie reliever Jhoan Duran gave up back-to-back singles and then spiked a curveball for a wild pitch that allowed pinch runner Ernie Clemente to score all the way from second base, giving the Guardians a 4-3 lead. 

All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase closed the door in the ninth for the save. 

The meltdown cost the Twins big time. A win would've had them within three games of Cleveland for first place in the AL Central but the loss drops them five games behind. 

Minnesota's runs came when Jose Miranda gave them a 1-0 lead on an RBI single in the third inning and Jake Cave blasted a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Twins up 3-0. 

Bailey Ober made his first start for the Twins since June 1, and just like his latest rehab start at Triple-A St. Paul, he dominated. The 6-foot-7 right-handed allowed no runs on one hit in five innings of work before giving way to the bullpen. 

Ober is the first of three rookies the Twins are sending to the mound for the first three games of the five-game series. In Saturday's doubleheader, Louie Varland will start Game 1 and Josh Winder will get the ball for Game 2. 

Note: Nick Gordon left the game after fouling a ball off his left leg during an at-bat in the eighth inning. He finished the at-bat (striking out), but was replaced in the field in the bottom of the eight. 

Related: Watch: Fly ball bounces off Cleveland outfielder's head

Related: Scenarios for the Twins to win the division outright

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

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. 

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