Sánchez, Gray Power Minnesota Twins Past Cleveland

After hearing that pitching coach Wes Johnson has taken a job with LSU and will be done after Thursday's game, Sonny Gray went out and delivered 7 solid shutout innings.

The right-hander pitched seven superb innings and Gary Sánchez homered and drove in four runs to help Minnesota stretch its lead in the AL Central with an 11-1 blowout of the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.

When they arrived in Cleveland on Sunday night ahead of the five-game series, the first-place Twins were rocked by the news that pitching coach Wes Johnson is leaving to take over at LSU.

“I’m happy for him. I really am,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before the game. “This is the best move for Wes. I love him and I love everything that he’s done for this organization. We’re all going to miss him.”

The Twins will start Devin Smeltzer in Game 1 on Tuesday against Zach Plesac. Minnesota is recalling rookie Josh Winder to start the second game against Cleveland rookie Konnor Pilkington.

Minnesota Twins baseball is on ESPN 102.3/AM1000 KSOO.