Twins match 2025 win total with 4-3 win over Guardians

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — Emmanuel Rodriguez provided a spark during his major league debut Saturday, belting a solo homer in his first career at-bat and recording an outfield assist within the first three innings.

The Twins needed every ounce of Rodriguez's energy during a 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field.

Rodriguez's 420-foot homer in the third inning started a four-run rally against Guardians reliever Franco Aleman. Six of the next seven Twins batters reached base afterward, including RBI singles from Kody Clemens and Royce Lewis. Victor Caratini was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

When Rodriguez threw out a runner in the second inning, Angel Martínez attempted to advance from first to third on Travis Bazzana's RBI single, it helped rookie starter Connor Prielipp settle into his outing.

Prielipp pitched out of the bullpen during his last two outings as the Twins tried to find creative ways to help him remain effective with fears that he was nearing a rookie wall. He went back to his typical starting routine Saturday against a lefty-heavy lineup, and he allowed five hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The Twins won their 70th game of the season, matching their win total from the 2025 season.

The team's focus has begun shifting toward next year after they fell out of the playoff race, and Rodriguez showed why he could be a big part of the Twins' future.

Rodriguez was the seventh Twins batter in team history to homer in his first career at-bat, the first since Eddie Rosario in 2015. He was the 14th Twin to hit a home run during his MLB debut, a feat that Kaelen Culpepper accomplished in Milwaukee last month.

Facing Aleman, Rodriguez pummeled a 95-mph fastball over the center-field wall, the ball landing in the Guardians' bullpen. The ball left Rodriguez's bat at a blistering 111 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the afternoon.

The Guardians scored two runs in the fifth inning against Prielipp after he hit David Fry with an errant curveball and gave up a double to Austin Hedges, but the Twins' bullpen pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

After Kody Funderburk stranded two runners in the seventh inning, striking out Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan, Jeff Hoffman and A.J. Minter combined to strike out five batters over the final two innings.

Minter became the 13th Twins pitcher to record a save this season, which extended the team record.