The Cleveland Guardians had one of their best offensive games in franchise history.
The Cleveland Guardians entered Monday's series opener against the Minnesota Twins with one of the lowest OPS, the fewest runs scored, and the 27th-fewest home runs in all of baseball.
Scoring has been a grind for the Guardians at times in 2026. However, that wasn't the case against the Twins as Cleveland put together not only its best offensive game of the season, but one of the great offensive games the franchise has ever seen.
Cleveland hit a total of seven home runs off the Twins in their 13-4 victory, tying a franchise record. The last time the team hit this many home runs in a single game was August 15, 2019, against the New York Yankees.
The home runs were thanks to Petey Halpin (two), Rhys Hoskins (two), Travis Bazzana, Brayan Rocchio, and Patrick Bailey.
What made this performance even more impressive was how quickly it happened.
Six of the Guardians' home runs occurred within the first four innings of the game, which is the first time since 1974 (when data became available) that this feat has occurred.
By the time Twins starter Joe Ryan left the mound, he had given up the most amount of home runs in a start during his career. It tied the most home runs allowed by a player in a game since 1900.
Jul 20, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; The Cleveland Guardians celebrate a win over the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn ImagesOne of narratives coming out of Cleveland's serious loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates was that they let their opponent take advantage of some of their own miscues.
That shifted on Monday, as Stephen Vogt noted that he felt his team simply didn't miss on some of Ryan's mistakes in the heart of the zone.
"We needed that as a group," veteran Rhys Hoskins said after the game.
"Yesterday [Sunday] was just sloppy, really, and sometimes you have those games... I think even more importantly is how a team responds. And obviously we came out ready to play tonight not sulking or thinking holding on to too much about yesterday, learning from our mistakes."
The Guardians still have work to do to be considered even an above-average lineup in MLB. Much of that work comes down to consistency.
That said, performances like the one Cleveland put together on Monday prove the team is capable, but just needs to find some more consistency.
As Hoskins said, "I think it shows a lot of good things about, about who we are as a group that we were able to respond with a game like today."
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