For most of his time on the mound Saturday night, Simeon Woods Richardson was at his best.
But it was the two throws he made without him that were too costly for the Minnesota Twins starter and his teammates to make up for.
Woods Richardson allowed a home run to Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan for the first time in the first inning, then allowed a solo home run to catcher Bo Naylor for the first time to start the sixth inning.
And those runs were all the Guardians needed to end a seven-game losing streak and beat the Twins 2-1 in an American League Central showdown at Target Field.
The loss left the Twins, who began the weekend series with a doubleheader sweep on Friday, two and a half games behind Cleveland in the division standings.
The Guardians needed just two pitches to take the lead on Saturday when Kwan hit his 12th home run of the season, a 396-footer to center field.
From there, however, Woods Richardson found his rhythm, striking out the next 11 batters in a row and 15 of the next 16. But that stretch ended with Naylor’s home run to right field at the start of the sixth inning.
The Twins cut the lead to one in the bottom half of the inning when Willi Castro led off with a double and then scored on an RBI grounder by Matt Wallner. Minnesota didn’t get any closer on the night, however, as the Twins managed just four total hits.
Woods Richardson, on the other hand, pitched a career-high seven innings, allowed just four hits, no walks and had seven strikeouts, but still suffered a loss and dropped to 3-3 on the season.
Castro’s double was the Twins’ only extra-base hit. The two teams will meet again at Target Field on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. to close out the series.
