The Guardians bullpen faltered on a night the offense found some success, and Cleveland lost 7-6 to the Minnesota Twins Thursday night at Target Field.
The Guardians (25-31) entered the bottom of the eighth inning leading 6-3. That’s when the Twins (30-27) jumped on reliever Trevor Stephan for a single and a double, followed by Royce Lewis’ two-run home run to tie it 6-6.
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In the ninth, the Twins loaded the bases with nobody out against Eli Morgan and won it on a sacrifice fly by Willi Castro.
The loss dropped the Guardians to 4.5 games behind the American League Central-leading Twins.
Before the bullpen issues, the Guardians took the lead with a five-run sixth inning, with all of the production coming on singles and walks.
Prior to the game, starting pitcher Cal Quantrill was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians lose in walk-off fashion to Minnesota Twins