Buxton's 11th-Inning HR Lifts Twins Past Cleveland 2-1

Byron Buxton ended a pitching duel that had no business going to extra innings the way it did — with a home run. His solo blast in the 11th inning gave Minnesota a 2-1 victory over Cleveland on Saturday night, a win that required every bit of the Twins' lineup to grind through one of the better pitching performances Cleveland has gotten from any starter this season. Eric Orze picked up the win in relief, and Luis García slammed the door for the save, but make no mistake: this game belonged to Buxton's bat in the end.

Tanner Bibee was the story through six innings and it wasn't particularly close. The Cleveland right-hander held Minnesota to a single hit across his six-inning start, punching out nine batters while allowing just one earned run. The one blemish came courtesy of Buxton, who already had a home run on the night before the game even reached extra innings — a solo shot that kept the Twins in a game they had no business winning on paper through the middle innings. Bibee walked two and avoided real trouble everywhere else, working with the kind of efficiency that made Cleveland's bullpen situation look manageable heading into the late innings. Nine strikeouts against one hit is the kind of line that torched any over bettors who were leaning on Minnesota's offense to carry the total.

Joe Ryan matched Bibee pitch for pitch in terms of quality outcomes, if not raw stuff. Ryan worked six innings himself, allowing just two hits and one earned run — Kyle Manzardo's RBI in the middle frames kept Cleveland level — while striking out five and walking three. The walks were the only knock on a start that otherwise gave Minnesota exactly what it needed to stay alive. José Ramírez went 1-for-3 and was neutralized all night, a quiet evening for Cleveland's best bat that ultimately cost the Guardians when the offense couldn't scratch across the go-ahead run in regulation. Once both starters exited, the bullpens traded zeros until Buxton's second home run of the evening changed everything in the 11th.

From a market standpoint, this game was a gift to anyone who touched the under. A projected total that likely opened in the 8-to-9-run range saw just three runs cross the plate across 11 innings — a clean, comfortable under cash. Bibee's nine strikeouts were the prop performance of the night; any reasonable strikeout line set in the six-to-seven range would have cashed well before the seventh-inning stretch. Buxton's two-RBI night on a 2-for-5 line was the kind of quiet monster box that rewards anyone who trusted the power prop on a healthy Buxton at home. The run line held for Minnesota at the final margin, but getting there required extra baseball — a reminder that low-total, pitching-heavy games can take a long time to resolve even when the math looks simple.