MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Emmanuel Rodriguez homered in his first career at-bat to spark a four-run inning and the Minnesota Twins held off the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 Saturday. Andrew Morris, Kody Funderburk and Jeff Hoffman combined for 2 2-3 innings of scoreless relief before A.

Joe Ryan threw pitches at his normal velocity Sunday, and he pounded the strike zone with his usual consistency, but those were probably the only elements of his start that looked normal. The Minnesota Twins righthander labored through four innings in his second start since returning from a monthlong stint on the injured list because of a left glute strain.

Jo Adell reached Ryan for Homer No. 2 in the third inning. The 451-foot drive hit the third deck in left field. The last Cleveland player to homer in that vicinity of Target Field was Mike Napoli in 2016. It was Adell’s 21st homer of the season and his fifth with Cleveland since being acquired at the trade deadline.

The Cleveland Guardians finished a weekend road series against the Minnesota Twins with a dominant 9-2 victory. Led by veteran Steven Kwan, Cleveland's offense produced runs in five different innings,

That stretch has come and gone, and with it, so have almost all the Twins’ playoff hopes, which were slim to begin with. The Twins concluded it with a 9-2 loss to the Guardians, placing them 5 1/2 games back of Cleveland, which currently holds the third wild card with just 13 games left to play.

But Franco Aleman, the link between Espino and Cantillo, allowed four runs on five hits in the third inning as the Guardians fell to Twins, 4-3. The loss dropped the Guardians to one game behind the AL Central leading White Sox. Chicago was scheduled to play the Cardinals on Saturday night.

While games don't necessarily fall solely on one player, right-handed rookie reliever Franco Aleman played a major role in the loss to the Twins. He entered in the third frame, going just 0.2 while giving up five hits,