Twins' fading hopes take another blow with loss to open doubleheader

CLEVELAND – For all the determined talk, for all the sincere intent, the Twins' chances of winning the AL Central are fading away in a shockingly hushed manner this weekend.

One day after a calamitous collapse in the late innings, the Twins suffered in silence Saturday, managing only four lonely hits in a 5-1 loss to the Guardians, the first game of a day-night doubleheader. The Twins' seventh consecutive loss to Cleveland dropped them six games back of the AL Central leaders, and guarantees that even a miraculous turnaround in their fortunes over the final three games here would still leave them three games back in a race they must win outright to qualify for the postseason.

And though the stakes were high, the game never felt particularly competitive. The Guardians used a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher and a lineup that included eight regulars. The Twins countered with a rookie pitcher making his second career start, and a lineup whose bottom four hitters are batting a combined .189.

Shane Bieber, a serial Twins tormenter — Cleveland has won 13 of his 15 career starts against the Twins — suffocated that makeshift lineup. Bieber struck out six, never walked a batter, and until Matt Wallner's eighth-inning home run in the Forest Lake product's major league debut, didn't allow a batter to advance as far as third base.

"He's a very good major league pitcher," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "The way he spins the ball, it makes it real tough, no matter how many times you've seen that breaking ball."

The Guardians had never seen rookie Louie Varland, who made his second career start, but they peppered him and journeyman Aaron Sanchez all afternoon. Cleveland collected at least one hit in each of the eight innings they batted, scored in four of them, and kept relentless pressure on the Twins defense.

"I had a tough time laying my slider for a strike, and I fell behind in counts," Varland said after being charged with four runs in his first career loss, a five-inning, nine-hit start. "I got burned for it a couple times, but overall, it was OK."

"A great hitter. [There were] two close calls. I can't say they were strikes, though," Varland said. "But falling behind in the count to him — he's not somebody you want to fall behind to. I threw an upper-third outer-third fastball for a strike and he pulled it."

A walk and back-to-back singles in the third produced another run, driven in by Amed Rosario. And Varland's fourth inning began with three straight hits, the last one a two-RBI single by Owen Miller.

Rosario picked up another RBI in the sixth off Sanchez, who also allowed three straight hits.

The Twins had no answer, but for their newest player, the team-record 59th they've used this season. Wallner, the Forest Lake native and former first-round pick, shocked Bieber by crushing a first-pitch cutter in the eighth inning, driving the ball 414 feet to straightaway center for his first career hit.