Also waiting for a call about a baby, Twins left fielder Brent Rooker's seventh-inning, lead-off home run secured a 3-0 victory over Cleveland at Progressive Field on a warm, breezy Tuesday evening.
His first-pitch, 421-foot blast to center field came one inning after the Twins broke a scoreless duel between Cleveland starting pitcher Aaron Civale and the Twins' John Gant.
Rooker's boss, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, welcomed daughter Louisa Sunny in the early hours of Tuesday morning back in Minneapolis.
Like Baldelli on Sunday, Rooker on Tuesday was awaiting a call to return to Minnesota for his child's birth. But since the call hasn't yet come, he went to work Tuesday.
He did so by delivering the game's only home run against a Cleveland team that until then had homered in 20 consecutive games, a franchise record set with another in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Twins.
Rooker's home run came one inning after the Twins scored the game's first run when shortstop Andrelton Simmons singled in Max Kepler, who had walked to start the fifth inning.
Designated hitter Luis Arraez's RBI triple with two out in the ninth that scored Simmons gave the Twins one more run's cushion.
Gant went five innings, allowed no runs, three hits, four walks and struck out seven that got him the win.
All three hits came in a challenging third inning that ended with Byron Buxton nabbing with the bases loaded Cleveland DH Franmil Reyes' drive to the left-center-field wall that came just shy of a grand slam.
After he left, the Twins bullpen did the rest, with Jorge Alcala, Juan Miyana, Caleb Thielbar and closer Alexander Colome each holding Cleveland without a run to save the shutout.
Colome worked his fourth game in as many days and picked up his third consecutive save in the ninth.
Thielbar allowed pinch-hitter Oscar Mercado an eighth-inning double high off the left field wall, but struck out Yu Chang with a curveball to end the inning with runners on second and third.
Gant, 29, made his fourth start and his 11th for the Twins since he was acquired with minor league pitcher Evan Disk in a trade-deadline deal with St. Louis that sent away J.A. Happ.
It was his 18th start and 36th appearance this season overall.
In his last start last week in a 3-1 loss to the Cubs, Gant allowed two runs on three hits, one of them a homer. He walked none, struck out five in five innings for his ninth loss this season.
Cleveland right hander Aaron Civale made his 16th start this season, but his first since June 21 at Wrigley Field after he sustained a sprained middle finger on his throwing hand.
At the time, his 10-2 record lead the major leagues in victories and he was the only American League pitcher who had more than eight victories. He also was one of only three pitchers in the majors with nine or more. He also ranked first in innings pitched (93.0) and 12th in ERA (3.48) before he was sidelined nearly three months.
Before Tuesday, Civale had never lost — 16-0 in 21 such starts — when his team scored three or more runs and was 1-12 in 16 starts when it scored two or fewer.
Make that 1-13 now.
