Towering homer in 8th inning sinks Twins in Cleveland

Griffin Jax was the hero in the seventh inning only to give up the go-ahead homer in the eighth.

Sep 16, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) misses a ball hit by Cleveland Guardians left fielder Angel Martinez (not pictured) during the first inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins till control their own destiny, but they aren't making it easy on themselves as they try to secure a bid to the 2024 MLB playoffs. On Monday night, the Twins blew a 3-0 lead and lost a pivotal game to the Cleveland Guardians by a score of 4-3.

Minnesota led 3-1 when the Guardians added a run to cut the deficit to one run in the seventh inning, and then Griffin Jax, who got the Twins out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, gave up a two-run, go-ahead homer to Kyle Manzardo in the eighth inning.

Lol, okay. Yeah, dude.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/p82td544ye

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 17, 2024

The Twins scored three runs in the third inning and looked to be in cruise control with ace Pablo Lopez on the mound, but Minnesota was a woeful 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and they failed to add runs the rest of the way.

Lopez gave up just two runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He left the game with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning and Jax played the temporary hero role with a strikeout before getting All-Star Jose Ramirez to ground out to end the inning with the lead still intact.

In the eighth, Jax gave up a leadoff double and then two batters later Manzardo hit a towering home run to right field that was estimated at 407 feet.

The Twins went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning against All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.

Minnesota is now 7.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central with 12 games left in the regular season. More importantly, their lead on the Tigers for the final wild-card spot is down to 1.5 games.