Twins rally, fall to Cleveland in longest MLB game this season
The Cleveland Guardians delivered another gut punch to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, cruising to a 5-1 win in the first game of a doubleheader and then winning in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 15th inning in Game 2.
The game lasted 5 hours, 24 minutes. It marked the longest game in terms of innings this season in Major League Baseball, and was one inning shy of tying the record for the longest game since the league implemented the runner at second base rule in extra innings.
Minnesota is now seven games behind Cleveland in the AL Central, and with only 18 games to go their hopes are all but gone. Even if the Twins win Sunday and Monday in Cleveland, they'll still be five games back with time running out.
“It’s hard to swallow being at this point in the season and being this far out,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I know we’re going to go out there and continue to fight in every possible way from today until the last regular season game, and then we’ll see what happens.”
The winning run scored when Amed Rosario, who went 8-for-13 with 6 RBIs in the doubleheader, ripped a ground ball up the middle that deflected off shortstop Jermaine Polacio's glove and rolled into center field.
The loss Saturday night was even more gut-wrenching because the Twins rallied from a 5-0 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning to tie the game. The comeback was highlighted with a two-run single by Gio Urshela, a sac-fly from Gary Sanchez and then the game-tying two-run homer by Nick Gordon.
WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO TUNED OUT EARLY?!? Gordon ties it with a 2-run shot!! | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/rLfpyFCjcg
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) September 18, 2022
Cleveland jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the strength of Amed Rosario, who crushed a three-run homer in the fifth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh.
The Guardians had five runs before the Twins even had one hit. Cleveland starter Konnor Pilkington didn't allow a hit until Jose Miranda ripped a single with two outs in the sixth inning.
The Twins and Guardians play again Sunday at 12:10 p.m.
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.