CLEVELAND — In a quiet clubhouse, after a loss on Monday that was difficult to digest, reliever Griffin Jax stood in front of reporters after he had given up a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and called it “heartbreaking.”

Jax had come in an inning earlier to clean up a bases-loaded jam and had done so, successfully. An inning later, the Twins’ lead was gone.

Tuesday, the Twins’ top reliever had another chance, and boy did he respond, coming in with a pair of runners on base and successfully navigating around that to seal up a 4-1 win for the Twins over the Guardians at Progressive Field.

The Twins were seemingly trying to stay away from Jax, going to Ronny Henriquez for the seventh inning — perhaps the most high-leverage inning of his career — before turning for Jhoan Duran for what they seemed to hope would be a two-inning save.

But Duran, after a clean eighth inning, allowed a leadoff double in the ninth and then, after a strikeout, walked a batter, spelling the end of his night. The Guardians ended up loading the bases on a softly-hit ball to shortstop Brooks Lee that he bobbled. But with the go-ahead run at the plate, Jax got the groundout he needed, fielding the final out and taking it to first base himself.

At this point of the Twins’ season, with such a slim margin for error, it seems as if every game is a must-win. And while runs haven’t come easy in recent weeks, the Twins did enough on Tuesday to pull away from Cleveland.

Matt Wallner, who came into the game 0 for 17 in recent days, snapped out of that skid with a two-out RBI hit in the third inning to give the Twins a lead. After the Guardians tied it up with a Lane Thomas home run off of starter Zebby Matthews, Wallner came through with yet another two-out hit in the fifth inning to give the Twins the lead back for good.

All four of the Twins’ runs on Tuesday scored with two outs as Willi Castro, who had not collected an extra-base hit since August, picked the perfect time to hit his first of the month. a two-run homer that gave the Twins an important cushion.

Shortstop Brooks Lee #72 of the Minnesota Twins turns a double play over Bo Naylor #23 of the Cleveland Guardians at second base in the fifth inning at Progressive Field on Sept. 17, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Closer Griffin Jax #22 and Willi Castro #50 of the Minnesota Twins celebrate a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Sept. 17, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)