Guardians' rally falls short as they fail to complete sweep of Twins

CLEVELAND — The Guardians refused to go down without a fight. Yet they were unable to complete the sweep of the Minnesota Twins and lost 5-4 on Sunday before 29,240 at Progressive Field. Still, they captured two of three games in the series, are 16-7 in their last 23 games and very much in the American League wild card race. Cleveland made things interesting in the ninth. Rookie C.J. Kayfus stroked a double over the head of right fielder Matt Wallner for his first major league hit. Pinch hitter Brayan Rocchio followed with a two-run single, which pulled the Guardians to 5-4. The next three batters flew out to snuff out the rally. "This team never quits," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. Kayfus, called up from Triple-A Columbus on Saturday, said he would give the ball to his parents. After he scored on Rocchio's hit, the players gave him high-fives in the dugout. "It made the moment great for me," Kayfus said. "I would have liked for it to come a few innings sooner. Man, I thought we were going to come back and win the game." Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz said the Boca Raton, Florida, native "never seems overwhelmed. At-bat quality is his calling card." Left-hander Joey Cantillo (2-2, 4.37) got off to a rugged start, as the first four Minnesota hitters reached base. The crushing blow in the inning was a two-out, two-run single by Trevor Larnach, which extended the Twins' lead to 4-0. "They jumped him," Vogt said. "He left too many pitches over the middle of the plate. It's hard to complain when guys are attacking the zone, throwing strikes." After his 30-pitch first inning, Cantillo settled down and didn't allow another run. He pitched a season-high 5 2/3 innings and struck out a season-high nine batters. He threw 91 pitches, 59 for strikes, which is a key for the Hawaii native. "It's all about throwing strikes with him," Albernaz said. "He has elite stuff. When he throws strikes, he goes deep into games and puts hitters on their heels." Cantillo said he could have done a better job executing two-strike pitches. "I need to get ahead of guys," he said. "I need to pound the zone better. I want to pitch deeper into the game." Cleveland's offense, which averaged 5.5 runs over the previous 22 games, struck for two runs in the first when hot-hitting Daniel Schneemann singled and came home on Jose Ramirez's 23rd home run of the season. It traveled an estimated 406 feet into the right-field stands. It marked the fifth time this season Ramirez has homered in back-to-back games. It narrowed the Guardians' deficit to 4-2. Minnesota added a key insurance run in the eighth on a bunt single by Kody Clemens, which drove in Wallner from third. It stayed 5-2 until the ninth. Cleveland first baseman Kyle Manzardo came up to bat with runners on first and second with one out in the third. The Guardians' attempt of a double steal was derailed when catcher Christian Vazquez cut down Schneemann at third base as Manzardo fanned for a double play to end the possible uprising. Schneemann was 3-for-5 and recorded back-to-back three-hit games. In 13 games since the All-Star break, he's batting .326 (14-for-43) with four doubles, a homer and four RBIs. He's recently been elevated to the No. 2 hole in the batting order. "I'm always looking for something to hit," Schneemann said. "It's nice having some balls fall in. I've been feeling good the last few weeks." Vogt said he loves the way Schneemann has been stroking the ball. "Schnee has been hitting the ball hard all year," he said. "Those were some great at-bats for him. He's played three positions in the last three days." Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com.