Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Guardians Match Player Stats On Aug 24, 2020

Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning to lift the visiting Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday.

Nelson Cruz launched his seventh homer in 10 games for the Twins, who have gone deep eight times en route to winning four of the five meetings with the Indians this season.

Kenta Maeda (4-0) allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out seven in five innings for his second strong performance against Cleveland this season. The 32-year-old permitted just one hit and fanned six in six frames of Minnesota's 3-0 win on Aug. 1. Maeda also took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his Aug. 18 start against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cesar Hernandez led off the first inning with a homer in the second consecutive contest for the Indians, who have dropped three of four on the heels of a season-high six-game winning streak.

Eddie Rosario ripped a one-out double in the sixth inning before Sano sent a 1-0 cutter from Aaron Civale (3-3) over the wall in right field to stake Minnesota to a 3-1 lead. The homer was Sano's sixth of the season and marked his eighth straight game with an extra-base hit.

Carlos Santana, who finished with three hits, halved the deficit with a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning before Trevor May struck out Franmil Reyes to end the threat.

Sergio Romo bridged the gap to Taylor Rogers, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his seventh save.

Hernandez deposited a 1-1 slider from Maeda over the wall in right field to open the scoring before Cruz answered with his team-leading 11th homer in the fourth. Cruz's blast also was the 412th of his career, tying him with Alfonso Soriano for 54th place on baseball's all-time list.

Minnesota threatened to snap a 1-1 tie in the fifth after Luis Arraez hit a leadoff single and Jorge Polanco ripped a two-out double to right field. Cleveland right fielder Tyler Naquin's relay found first baseman Santana, whose throw home allowed catcher Roberto Perez to make a sweeping tag on Arraez for the final out of the inning.

--Field Level Media