Jorge Polanco delivered his third walk-off hit of the homestand and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-7 on Wednesday to earn their fourth straight series victory.
The Twins got off to a slow start in the matinee when José Ramírez slugged his 27th home run of the season in the bottom of the first to give the Indians an early lead.
After Jorge Polanco tied the game with an RBI single, the Indians took advantage of the Twins bullpen to build a 4-1 lead before Miguel Sanó hit a mammoth, 475-foot home run in the bottom of the fourth.
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Franmil Reyes hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to make it a 5-2 game but that set the stage for the Twins to explode for a five-run fifth inning.
Luis Arráez started the rally with a two-run single before Sanó tied the game with a two-run double. With Sanó on third base, Nick Gordon drove him in with an infield single before Andrelton Simmons put the Twins ahead 7-5 with a ground-rule double.
Rally for 5. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/2dN68eFBDc
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 18, 2021
The lead held for the Twins into the ninth inning when Alexander Colomé made things interesting. Colomé allowed an RBI double to Ramirez to make it a one-run game and with the tying run on third, Colomé threw a wild pitch to Bradley Zimmer that let the go-ahead run score.
Both teams would mount rallies throughout extra innings but the Twins would get the last laugh. With Ryan Jeffers on third base, Polanco delivered the game-winning hit and gave the Twins their 10th victory in the past 15 games.
The Twins will begin a four-game series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday when Jameson Tallion takes the mound for the New York Yankees. Thursday’s game will have a first pitch of 6:05 p.m.
