Guardians stop skid at 7, beat Twins 2-1 on home runs by Steven Kwan and Bo Naylor

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Steven Kwan homered on the second pitch of the game and Bo Naylor also went deep for the Cleveland Guardians in a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night that stopped their season-long seven-game losing streak and created some space in the narrowing AL Central race.

Cleveland lengthened the lead on defending division champion Minnesota to 2 1/2 games by ending its longest skid since April 22-28, 2022.

Gavin Williams (2-4) gave the Guardians six strong innings on just the right night, allowing one run on four hits and no walks with three strikeouts in the best of his eight starts this year.

Kwan, the All-Star left fielder who has been a consistent catalyst in the leadoff spot, smacked a fastball from Simeon Woods Richardson into the seats above right-center field for his 11th home run that matches his combined total from his first two seasons in the major leagues.

Woods Richardson (3-3) was just as good as Williams, logging a career-high seven innings and allowing only two other baserunners — both singles — beyond the homers. The rookie threw only 89 pitches.

The Twins played superb defense behind him, too, with first baseman Carlos Santana and second baseman Austin Martin with two diving stops apiece and third baseman Jose Miranda tracking down a foul popup with a basket catch and his back to the infield.

But the two costly pitches, to Kwan and Naylor, were uncatchable. Naylor’s ninth home run on a first-pitch fastball led off the sixth, before the Twins responded in the bottom of the inning with a double by Willi Castro and consecutive groundouts to advance him and cut the lead to 2-1.

Cleveland’s bullpen took the baton from there, with Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase each turning in a perfect inning. Clase notched his 34th save, second in the majors, in 37 attempts.

UP NEXT

Guardians: RHP Tanner Bibee (9-4, 3.48 ERA) pitches the series finale, 12 days after his last start. He was skipped in the rotation to rest a sore shoulder.

Twins: RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.55 ERA) takes the mound on Sunday. The rookie is coming off his best of four career starts, when he threw five shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs on Monday.

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