Emmanuel Rodriguez homers and Twins edge Guardians 4-3

mmanuel 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.J. Minter earned his first save since May 13, 2024, with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Travis Bazzana, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan had RBIs for the Guardians, now one game behind Chicago in the American League Central Division.

Cleveland is one game up on Toronto for the final AL wild-card spot, with Minnesota 4 1/2 games behind.

Rodriguez, a top-five prospect in the Minnesota organization who was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul earlier in the day, hit a fastball from Franco Aleman into the bullpen to tie the game 1-1 in the third inning. He’s the seventh Twin to homer in his first career at-bat and 14th to do so in his first game.

Kody Clemens and Royce Lewi...