Twins stop Guardians' 10-game win streak, keep Cleveland from tying for AL Central lead with 6-2 win

MINNEAPOLIS — Brooks Lee hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth, pinch-hitter Royce Lewis added a three-run shot in the seventh and the Minnesota Twins ended the Cleveland Guardians' 10-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory Sunday. The Guardians lost for only the fourth time in 20 games and missed a chance to pull even with Detroit in the AL Central after the Braves finished off a sweep of the Tigers with a 6-2 victory. Cleveland will host Detroit for three games beginning Tuesday. "We couldn't be more excited to get back home," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I know it's school nights, I know people work, but we need our fans. We need to pack out Progressive. ... The boys are ready. We know what's at stake, and it's going to be a lot of fun this week." Minnesota, which never led and was outscored 20-2 in losing the first three games in the series, grabbed a 3-2 lead when Lee greeted reliever Matt Festa (5-4) with his 16th home run. Luke Keaschall reached base with a one-out double off Erik Sabrowski before Lee's blast. Tim Herrin left after allowing two-out singles to Kody Clemens and Austin Martin in the seventh and Lewis greeted Hunter Gaddis with his 13th homer for a four-run advantage. "I haven't seen the replays, but it looked like Festa kind of yanked a fastball down to Lee, and then (Gaddis) just didn't quite get the slider down to Lewis," Vogt said. "But these guys have been throwing so well. Two mistakes, and they made us pay for them." Steven Kwan hit the third pitch from Simeon Woods Richardson for his 11th home run and Bo Naylor added a sacrifice fly to put the Guardians up 2-0. Naylor has an RBI in six straight games, the longest stretch by a Cleveland catcher since Victor Martinez had a seven-game run in 2007. Byron Buxton had a two-out double off Joey Cantillo in the third before scoring on a single by Clemens to cut it to 2-1. It was the Twins' first run in 23 innings. Woods Richardson allowed two runs on three hits in a five-inning start. Kody Funderburk (4-1) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win. Cleveland (84-72) won nine of 13 games against Minnesota (67-89) this season. The huge upcoming home series against Detroit was made possible due to an incredible hot streak by Cleveland while the Tigers seemed to cool off during the same period. The Guardians gained 9 1/2 games on the Tigers in the past 24 days. "I think this last month, a lot of people could say we were out of it," Kwan said. "I think (players) could have started looking at their numbers and just tried to look to the offseason. But we've been playing some really unselfish baseball, grinding together, sticking together. It's been really fun, and we've got a really exciting week coming up." While the end of the 10-game winning streak is not the way Cleveland wanted to wrap up its road trip, the Guardians remain excited for the final few days of the regular season and their chance to earn a playoff spot and a division championship. "I couldn't be more proud of this group — 24 games in 24 days — and to do what we did and put ourselves into a position where we have an opportunity to earn our way into the postseason," Vogt said. "That's all you can ask for. Obviously, ending on a note like today, it can get you down, but this won't get this group down. We're going to come ready to on Tuesday." Key moment Lee's homer gave the Twins their first lead in the series. Key stat Guardians starting pitchers had a run of 16 straight games of five-plus innings while allowing two runs or less end, although with Cantillo only allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings the franchise record is now at 17 games in which starting pitchers have given up two or fewer earned runs.