MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Steven Kwan tied a season high with four RBIs, Logan Allen pitched a career-best eight innings and the Cleveland Guardians made it 10 straight wins by beating the Minnesota Twins 8-0 on Saturday to sweep a day-night doubleheader without giving up a run.
Winners in 15 of their past 16 games, the Guardians are one game back of first-place Detroit in the AL Central after trailing by 11 on Sept. 4. The Tigers were beaten 6-5 by Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.
The Guardians also are tied with Houston for the last American League wild card, a game behind Boston. They won the opener 6-0, hitting five home runs in a game for the first time since April 10, 2021.
It was the 11th time Cleveland pitched shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader and first since Sept. 30, 1964, against Boston. The only other time the Twins went scoreless for 18 innings in a twinbill came against Cleveland on May 21, 1961.
Minnesota was blanked twice in Oakland on April 20, 2021, but those were seven-inning games due to rules in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Limited to one hit through four innings, Cleveland sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth.
