Clemens provided all of Minnesota's offense in a quiet afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Kody Clemens spent Saturday afternoon proving he can handle left-handed pitching, even if nobody else in the Minnesota lineup could handle much of anything.
The veteran utility man launched a pair of solo home runs at Wrigley Field, accounting for every run in a 6-2 Twins loss to the Chicago Cubs that snapped Minnesota's three-game winning streak.
The defeat dropped the Twins back below .500 at 49-50, one day after a win had pulled them even for the first time since April, and it left Minnesota needing Sunday's finale to escape Chicago with a series victory.
Matthew Boyd deserves plenty of the credit, since the left-hander held the visitors to three hits and one run across six innings while winning his fourth straight start.
Clemens Does All the Damage
Both homers came against lefties, which has become a defining trait of his breakout season.
Clemens tied the game in the second inning with a shot off starter Matthew Boyd, then punished reliever Caleb Thielbar in the seventh by lifting a hanging sweeper into the right-field bleachers, a drive projected at 391 feet.
The second blast was his 18th of the year and came on the third straight sweeper of the at-bat.
Clemens explained afterward that hitters have to "take advantage of the ones that are in the heart of the plate" or accept the outs that follow, and he backed up those words twice.
The two-homer day extended a remarkable season for Clemens, who arrived from Philadelphia for cash considerations and has become one of the biggest surprises on the roster.
Bradley Struggles and a Ninth-Inning Mess
Starter Taj Bradley endured his roughest outing in weeks, giving up five earned runs over five innings with three walks against six strikeouts.
Michael Busch homered in the first, Miguel Amaya doubled home two in the second, as Chicago built a 5-1 cushion in the third.
Minnesota still created one last chance in the ninth, loading the potential tying run into the batter's box after singles by Josh Bell and Victor Caratini.
Brooks Lee then lined a ball off Pete Crow-Armstrong's glove, and the resulting confusion produced a bizarre relay double play that erased Bell at home and caught Lee off first.
Clemens struck out to end it, denied a swing at a storybook finish.
The lineup that homered three times in Houston earlier this month managed only three hits against Boyd through six innings.
Injury Note and What Comes Next
Royce Lewis sat out with a tight hamstring and is considered day to day, a situation worth monitoring for a club fighting to stay in the race.
Minnesota sends Zebby Matthews to the mound in Sunday's rubber match against Shota Imanaga, looking to grab the series the way the club closed out Cleveland with late-inning magic earlier this summer.
