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- The Big Hit: With two outs in the top of the fifth, Arias crushed an 88 mph fastball deep to right-center field. The ball hit off the wall, scoring José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Defensive Gem: Beyond his offense, Arias made an spectacular barehanded play at shortstop to throw out Edouard Julien. He also tagged out Carson McCusker attempting to steal second base. [1, 2, 3]
- Pennant Race Impact: The doubleheader sweep extended Cleveland’s winning streak to 10 games. It moved them within one game of the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central lead and pulled them into a tie for the final American League Wild Card spot. [1, 2, 3]
Guardians 1 game out of 1st, grab WC spot after 10th straight win
Cleveland blanks Twins in back-to-back games for 1st doubleheader shutout since 1964
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Guardians entered the weekend series against the Twins with a bullpen running on fumes. But thanks to the performances of their starting pitchers on Saturday, the relievers will be better rested for the final week of the season.
Logan Allen threw eight scoreless innings as the Guardians completed a doubleheader sweep of the Twins with an 8-0 win in the nightcap at Target Field.
The victory was Cleveland’s tenth straight and 15th in its last 16 games, and it brings the Guardians (84-71) to within one game of first-place Detroit in the AL Central, with a three-game series against the Tigers at Progressive Field on tap next for the rivals. The Guardians, who trailed the Tigers by as many as 15 1/2 games in early July, haven’t been this close to first place since they were a half-game out on April 25.
Also, with the Astros losing to Seattle, the Guardians are actually in a playoff position -- they’re tied with Houston for the third Wild Card spot, but Cleveland holds the tiebreaker over the Astros.
In the longest start of his career, Allen (8-11) one-upped rotation mate Slade Cecconi, who tossed seven scoreless frames in the opener. Allen allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven.
“It's fun to build off each other like that,” Allen said after the Guardians completed their first doubleheader shutout since Sept. 30, 1964, at Boston. “Obviously just trying to build off what [Cecconi] did, keep on going out there, attacking guys, let the defense work, and it led to some zeros today.”
Cecconi and Allen combined to pitch 15 innings on Saturday, allowing six hits and walking two while striking out 15. Kolby Allard pitched two innings in the opener and Zak Kent finished off the Twins with a scoreless ninth in the finale.
Getting through a doubleheader needing just three innings from the bullpen? That’s music to manager Stephen Vogt’s ears.
“Slade and Logan deserve all the credit for both wins today, coming out and doing what they did to give the bullpen essentially a day off,” Vogt said. “[The starters] push each other. They compete with each other. They're their own team, and they talk about it all the time. They want to one-up each other, and they want to win.”