Playoff hopes remain on the table as the Minnesota Twins get ready for their final series of the regular season starting Friday night at Target Field against the Royals.
Pinch-runner Eduard Nunez scored from third base on a wild pitch and Torii Hunter hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to give Minnesota a 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night, moving the Twins a little closer to an AL wild-card spot.
Facing a crushing loss, the Twins scored a run in the eighth to tie it and then two unearned runs in the ninth off Cody Allen (2-5) to pull within one game of idle Houston for the second wild-card berth with three games left.
Trevor Plouffe reached on second baseman Jose Ramirez’s throwing error with one out in the ninth. Nunez, running for Plouffe, then raced to third on Eddie Rosario’s single to right before Allen bounced a 2-2 pitch to Hunter in the dirt. Hunter followed with a fly to deep right, bringing in Rosario.
