Guardians use the home run — yes, the long ball — to beat Twins, 4

MINNEAPOLIS — The Guardians are baseball's version of a tight fit.

Every night they try to pull out of a parking spot hemmed in by two Ford F-150s and a Greyhound bus without destroying their rearview mirror. They play tighter than that brand new pair of jeans that has been hanging in the back of the closet for the last five years that you swore you’d fit into.

It was that way again Saturday night before Will Brennan and Steven Kwan homered to give the Guards a 4-2 victory over the Twins at Target Field.

Brennan's homer came against Sonny Gray -- the first he's allowed in 67 innings this year -- in the seventh inning and turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Kwan's one-out homer in the ninth provided the final run.

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The Guardians lost the first two games of this series, but now have a chance for a split with a win on Sunday. Saturday's win pulled them to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Twins in the AL Central.

The Guardians lead the big leagues with 27 one-run games. Forty-seven percent of their games have been decided by the slimmest of margins.

One of the reasons is because they’re last in the big leagues in home runs. They don't have the power to separate themselves from the opposition.

That's what made the homers by Kwan and Brennan so rare. It was Kwan's second homer of the season and Brennan's third. Cleveland's starting outfield of Kwan, Myles Straw and Brennan started the game with three combined homers.

"We’re contact-first hitters," said Brennan, who drove in three of Cleveland's four runs. "That's our game and we’re not going to get outside of that. But if we get balls out front like we did tonight, we have to potential to show some juice. Other than that, we’re going to stick to our games."

The win went to left-hander Logan Allen, a rookie like Brennan. Allen (3-2, 2.76 ERA) allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings. In two starts against the Twins this season, he's allowed four runs in 11 2/3 innings.

Emmanuel Clase retired the Twins in order in the ninth for his 18th save in 23 attempts.

"Logan gives us six innings, two runs," said manager Terry Francona. "He did pretty good. He's got poise. He competes like crazy. If he walks somebody, he reels it right back in.

"He doesn't let anything bother him. He did a good job."

Gray (4-1, 2.15) lost for the first time this season. The Guardians knocked him around for 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings, but could only score three runs.

The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

Christian Vázquez doubled with one out and came around to score on Donovan Solano's two-out double to the wall in center. The Twins were trying to counter the quick work of Allen by stepping out of the box and using their one timeout when they had a two-strike count on them.

Vázquez's double came after he called time with a 1-2 count on him.

The Twins had another opportunity in the sixth. It didn't turn out as well.

Kyle Farmer and Kyle Garlick singled to start the inning. They advanced on a sacrifice bunt. But the promise of the inning ended as Willi Castro lined to José Ramírez at third, who stepped on the bag to complete the inning-ending double play.

Allen had barely settled into the game when he was down 1-0.

Leadoff hitter Jorge Polanco, whose seventh inning double beat the Guardians 1-0 Friday night, hit Allen's fourth pitch of the game over the fence in center for a 1-0 lead.

Allen worked his way out the inning with no further damage.

"I made a bad pitch there, but it's a long game," said Allen. "I had to get back to executing pitches. We have a good offense and you have to trust we’re going to score runs. I just had to keep making pitches."

The Guardians responded quickly in the second against Gray to tie the score at 1-1. Andrés Giménez and Gabriel Arias hit consecutive one-out singles to put runners on first and third. Brennan forced Arias at second on a grounder to short, but outran a possible double play to score Giménez.

Cleveland threatened again in the fourth as Josh Naylor singled and went to third on Giménez's one-out double off the right field wall. Gray, working with the infield in, retired Arias on a grounder to second and Brennan on a bouncer back to the mound.

Allen reset nicely after the leadoff homer. He held the Twins one run on five hits over the next five innings.

Cleveland shortstop Amed Rosario left the game with a sore right knee with play headed into the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Freeman replaced him.

Next: RHP Triston McKenzie (2023 debut) vs. RHP Joe Ryan on Sunday at 2:10 p.m. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.

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