Angel Martínez homer and Cleveland’s wild ninth swing 5-2 win over Twins

Bradley owned the first act

The Twins had the cleaner first six innings because Taj Bradley gave them exactly that kind of start. Minnesota’s right-hander worked 6.0 scoreless innings, allowed only one hit, struck out six and forced Cleveland to wait. The Guardians did make him labor with four walks and 94 pitches, but they still went into the seventh with nothing on the board. In a game that eventually turned chaotic, Bradley supplied the calm that should have been enough to set the tone.

Cleveland’s starter was nearly as effective, just with less margin for error. Parker Messick went 5.1 innings, allowed three hits and one run, and kept the damage limited to a second-inning RBI double by Royce Lewis that brought Kody Clemens home. That was Minnesota’s lone breakthrough against him. For most of the night, the game sat in that narrow lane where one extra-base hit can rewrite the whole script.

Martínez supplied the jolt, and Minnesota had one answer

The jolt came in the seventh. Angel Martínez drove a 445-foot homer to left-center, bringing home Travis Bazzana and turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Cleveland lead. It was the first truly forceful swing of the game from either side, and it came from a hitter who quietly built a big night: Martínez finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Bazzana was just as important in a different way, going 2-for-2 with two walks and scoring twice. On a night when Cleveland’s bigger names did not carry the offense, those two did.

Minnesota did respond immediately enough to keep the game honest. In the bottom of the seventh, Austin Martin scored on Kaelen Culpepper’s single to left, tying it at 2-2. That answer mattered because it prevented Martínez’s homer from becoming the final word and forced Cleveland to keep finding outs late. After Erik Sabrowski was charged with the tying run, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith restored order, combining for the final 2.1 scoreless innings.

A tied game became a Cleveland escape act

The ninth was where the Guardians finally converted pressure into separation. Yoendrys Gómez recorded only one out, but the inning unraveled on him. Bazzana scored on a wild pitch, with Angel Genao moving to second and Martínez to third, and suddenly a 2-2 game had tilted toward Cleveland without a ball leaving the infield. It was the kind of play that says as much about late-game control as it does about late-game hitting.

Cleveland still added the clean swing that sealed it. Brayan Rocchio doubled to center, scoring Genao and Martínez for the final two runs of the night. That gave Rocchio two RBIs on a 1-for-3 line, and it turned a one-run edge into a 5-2 finish. Minnesota’s bullpen had protected Bradley’s work long enough to reach the late innings tied, but not long enough to survive them. A.J. Minter surrendered Martínez’s homer in the seventh, and Gómez was tagged for three earned runs in 0.1 inning in the ninth.

Our take: the details were louder than the final margin

Cleveland’s win was not about overwhelming Minnesota. The Guardians had seven hits, struck out nine times, and left plenty of chances unused. José Ramírez went 0-for-5, and Jo Adell finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. But Cleveland also drew six walks, saw 157 pitches and kept the game from speeding past them. That matters. A lineup does not need to look polished for nine innings if it keeps extending at-bats long enough for the right hitters to land the decisive blows.

If there is a criticism for the Guardians, it is that a game with that much traffic should not have required a messy ninth to feel safe. Six walks, four extra-base hits and 21 runners left on base suggest earlier openings were there. Cleveland found enough offense to win, but not enough efficiency to make the night comfortable.

For Minnesota, the frustration is sharper because the Twins received the best starting pitching line in the game and still let it drift away. Bradley’s six scoreless innings should have given them a platform. Instead, the bullpen allowed five runs over the final three innings, including the Martínez homer, the wild pitch, and Rocchio’s two-run double. Offensively, the Twins finished with six hits, just one double and no home runs. That is not nothing, but it is not much cushion either. The Guardians were hardly explosive; they were simply cleaner when the game finally asked both teams to execute under pressure. That, more than the 5-2 score itself, was the real separator.

Scoring moments

1. 2nd Inning

   Lewis doubled to left, Clemens scored.

2. 7th Inning

   Martínez homered to left center (445 feet), Bazzana scored.

3. 7th Inning

   Culpepper singled to left, Martin scored.

4. 9th Inning

   Bazzana scored on Gómez wild pitch, Genao to second on wild pitch by Gómez, Martínez to third on wild pitch by Gómez.

5. 9th Inning

   Bazzana scored on Gómez wild pitch, Genao to second on wild pitch by Gómez, Martínez to third on wild pitch by Gómez.

6. 9th Inning

   Rocchio doubled to center, Genao scored and Martínez scored.