MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Aaron Slegers calmly took the mound for Minnesota in his major league debut and helped the Twins beat Cleveland at home for the first time all season.
Then the emotion came, when he left the field to a standing ovation in the seventh.
Max Kepler made up for a fielding flub in the top of the seventh with the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the inning, sending the Twins to a 4-2 victory in the second game to salvage a doubleheader split with the Indians on Thursday.
“I was about as close as you can cry without crying when I was walking off the mound there, when the crowd started standing up and applauding,” Slegers said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
Slegers sailed through 6 1/3 innings to stop Cleveland’s six-game winning streak. The Indians had won 10 straight games in Minnesota.
“I’m not sure he knows all that’s transpired between us and that particular team on this field here, but he did a nice job of trusting himself,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said, adding: “It was just I think a big boost for everybody. He won a lot of respect from a lot of people in that clubhouse tonight.”
Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis each homered and had three hits for the Indians in a 9-3 victory in the opener as the Twins set a franchise record with 19 strikeouts.
Slegers tried his best to keep the nerves at bay.
Recalled from Triple-A Rochester as the 26th player for the nightcap, Slegers allowed only two hits and two runs with two walks and two strikeouts. The 6-foot-10 right-hander lost the lead when he left a runner on with one out in the seventh and Carlos Santana greeted Trevor Hildenberger (2-1) with an RBI triple while Kepler slipped in the right-field corner trying to grab it.
But Kepler responded with his 15th homer
The Twins stayed six games behind the Indians in the AL Central and one game out of the second wild card spot.