Twins cough up late lead, then Sano's single wins it in ninth

Before Miguel Sano delivered the walk-off winning hit Tuesday, he received some advice from Oswaldo Arcia, who hit a walk-off home run Monday.

Arcia told him he could be a leader and play a big factor in the game.

"And don't swing at the breaking ball," Arcia added.

Sano listened.

With one out in the ninth inning, he took a nasty breaking ball from reliever Cody Allen for a strike. Two pitches later, he lined a fastball to center for a single that scored Brian Dozier with the winning run as the Twins edged Cleveland 6-5, their second walk-off victory in as many nights.

Twins righthander Ricky Nolasco pitched 7 ⅓ innings — the longest outing by a Twins starter this season — and the Twins looked ready to ride Eddie Rosario's solo homer in the sixth to victory. But Cleveland's Mike Napoli homered into the second deck off closer Kevin Jepsen (2-3) to tie the score with two outs in the top of the ninth. The fastball was just above the strike zone.

"We have been able to elevate [pitches] with [Napoli] this series," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He was ready for that one."

A free pass to the three-time batting champion, who is hitting like a three-time batting champion again, to bring up a young righthanded hitter seemed to make sense.

"[Allen] is probably thinking, 'I'm going to take Sano out. Don't pitch to Mauer, pitch to Sano. Try to make [him hit] into a double play,' " Sano said. "But I be more smarter than the pitcher."

As the single landed in center, Sano motioned to the dugout as he ran to first while Dozier crossed home plate. Soon, Rosario dumped a bucket of bubble gum on him — yes, he grabbed a bucket and ran onto the field with it — before teammates mobbed him. Then he was doused with water while being interviewed by Fox Sports North.

Smiles everywhere. A sense of relief. That's what two walk-off victories will do for a team after getting swept in three games in Washington over the weekend, with the last game a 16-inning march to their 14th loss.

"We're playing a lot of these kind of games," Molitor said of his team, which has played 14 games decided by two or fewer runs and three in a row decided by one run. "Just one run either way. Sometimes it's just catching a break."

That lead didn't hold, but the Twins came through in the ninth. At 7-14, they remain in quite a hole, but winning in the final at-bat a couple of times can do wonders for a struggling team.

"Just to continue to compete," Molitor said. "We all knew Sunday was tough. We had to turn the page and get back to trying to have a good homestand."