Fry and Ramírez go deep, Guardians beat Twins 5-3 to earn split of four-game series

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — David Fry and José Ramírez homered, and the Cleveland Guardians held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Sunday to earn a split of the four-game series between the top two teams in the AL Central.

The Guardians won their second straight after losing seven in a row, and now lead Minnesota by 3 1/2 games. Kansas City is four games back.

Emmanuel Clase pitched a shaky ninth for his 35th save as Minnesota loaded the bases with no outs, but Willi Castro struck out on a full count and Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play that began with a ranging backhand stop by second baseman Andrés Giménez.

“In that AB I wanted to get a ground ball to him. I was lucky to get it, and I always have 100% confidence in him,” Clase said through an interpreter.

Facing adversity for one of the rare times this season, Cleveland bounced back nicely in the series after being swept in Friday’s doubleheader.

“To come back and win the next two, even that last inning where they get bases loaded and no outs to get out of it was really cool,” Fry said.

Byron Buxton homered twice for Minnesota, which fell to 2-7 against Cleveland this year.

Manager Rocco Baldelli likes how the Twins played over the four games.

“We had several innings where we whacked the ball all around the ballpark and we end up scoring no runs," he said. "Stuff where you think it’s almost impossible not to score. The vast majority of them it’s not like our guys did anything too wrong, they just hit the ball too hard and hit the ball right at people. If one or two of those runs come into play, we’re in a good spot.”

The Guardians broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning. With one out, Fry lined a home run off Caleb Thielbar (2-3) for just his third extra-base hit in 27 games. Prior to the 405-foot shot to the left of the bullpens, the American League All-Star was in a 4-for-32 slump.

“He’s a warrior, he’s been playing through a lot of things,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “When he’s at his best he’s driving the ball up the middle and you make a mistake he pops one. That was a huge moment for us.”

A broken bat single by Brayan Rocchio and a seeing-eye single through the hole by Steven Kwan each drove in runs, as did a double by Will Brennan for a 5-1 lead. It is the first time in six games Cleveland scored more than three runs.

Tanner Bibee (10-4) made his first start in 13 days for the Guardians, missing his last turn in the rotation with right shoulder soreness. In 5 2/3 innings he scattered six hits and struck out five. Cleveland is 18-5 this season when Bibee starts.

Buxton, 3 for 35 in his previous 13 games against Cleveland since June 29, 2022, homered in the second, but Ramírez lofted a home run to the second row of seats in right to tie the score in the fourth.

Buxton added a two-run homer in the eighth off Nick Sandlin for his third multi-homer game this year.

In his sixth career start, Minnesota’s David Festa allowed one earned run and three hits in 3 1/3 innings, but he walked three and was pulled after 70 pitches. Last Monday against the Cubs, he allowed two hits and struck out a career-high nine in five innings.

DEEP IN THE COUNT

After Fry’s home run, Giménez had a 14-pitch walk and Daniel Schneemann followed with an eight-pitch walk.

“We’d been getting away from that as of late and making guys work and have to make pitch after pitch after pitch. That was one of the best at-bats Gimi’s had all year,” Vogt said.

UP NEXT

Guardians: RHP Ben Lively (10-7, 3.59) is set to start Monday’s home game against Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (9-2, 3.06).

Twins: RHP Pablo López (10-8, 4.74) is scheduled to start Monday at home against Kansas City RHP Brady Singer (8-7, 3.03).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton (25) celebrates a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton (25) celebrates a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

The Cleveland Guardians celebrate their 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Cleveland Guardians' David Fry (6) celebrates in the dugout after nailing a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Cleveland Guardians' Andrés Giménez (0), right, beats Minnesota Twins second baseman Willi Castro (50) to second base in the top of the fourth inning of a baseball game in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio (4) breaks a bat at the plate in the top of the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton (25) celebrates his solo home run in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) makes a grab in the outfield for an out in the top of the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro (50), right, gets a hug from Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) after the call at second was challenged by the Twins in the bottom of the fifth inning of a baseball game in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton (25) celebrates his solo home run with Max Kepler (26) in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins pitcher David Festa (58) pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton (25) celebrates a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

Cleveland Guardians' David Fry (6) shows his stuff as he rounds second after nailing a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of protesters pushed into Mexico's Senate on Tuesday as lawmakers weighed a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, forcing the body to take an indefinite recess for the safety of the senators.

The shut down came just hours after Mexico's ruling party, Morena, appeared to have wrangled the votes it needed to jam through the proposal after at least one member of an opposition party was accused of flipping to support it.

That move and other political maneuvering ahead of a vote on the plan championed by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador fueled even more outrage after weeks of protests by judicial employees and law students.

Critics and observers say the plan, which would have all judges elected, could threaten judicial independence and deal a severe blow to the system of checks and balances.

Some protesters entered the Senate chambers in an effort to block the vote after they said lawmakers were not listening to their demands.

“The judiciary isn’t going to fall,” yelled the protesters, waving Mexican flags and signs against the overhaul. Others outside the court roared when newscasters announced the Senate was taking a recess.

Among them was Alejandro Navarrete, a 30-year-old judicial worker, who said that people like him working in the courts “knowing the danger the reform represents” came to call on the Senate to strike down the proposal.

“They have decided to sell out the nation, and sell out for political capital they were offered, so we were forced to enter the Senate," he said, carrying a Mexican flag. "Our intention is not violent, we didn't intend to hurt them, but we intend to make it clear that the Mexican people won't allow them to lead us into a dictatorship.”

Despite unrest in recent weeks, the plan sailed through the lower chamber of Congress last week, and was passed onto the Senate, where López Obrador's Morena party lacked the necessary supermajority to approve it. In recent weeks, it was able to peel off two senators from an opposition party, but came into this week still missing one more.

It was unclear where that vote would come from because the country’s opposition vehemently opposes the plan. But over the weekend, observers began to speculate that a senator from the conservative National Action Party (PAN), Miguel Ángel Yunes Márquez, would support Morena as he refused to answer calls from his party leadership.

On Tuesday, Yunes Márquez announced he would take leave due to health issues and be replaced by his father, Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares, a former governor of Veracruz.

While the father and son did not immediately confirm that they were switching to support the overhaul, Yunes Linares strolled into the Senate chambers and was met with applause and chants of “hero!” by Morena senators and screams of “traitor!” from his own party.

One PAN senator, Lilly Téllez, even threw dozens of coins at Yunes Linares, calling him a ”traitor who sold out his country" for his own benefit. A Senate vote was expected Wednesday.

The national head of PAN, Marko Cortés, claimed that it “is evident” that there was an “impunity pact” between the Yuneses and the government so he would vote in favor of the overhaul. Cortés was referring to a July arrest order for Sen. Yunes Márquez, for alleged falsification of documents and fraud related to his candidacy.

Yunes had challenged it and got a temporary suspension, calling it a political persecution by the governing Morena party, the same party his father now appears ready to support.

His father, Yunes Márquez, dodged questions from the press about how he would vote on Tuesday, but accused Cortés of “lynching” him and claimed it was “absolutely false” that he has been coerced to vote for the overhaul. He was flanked by two Morena senators as he spoke.

“I’m not a traitor, I’ve never betrayed anyone,” he said. The accusations “aren’t democracy. I am coming here to act completely freely.”

A Yunes vote in favor would allow the ruling party to clear the biggest hurdle in making the proposal law. If it passes the Senate, it will have to be ratified by the legislatures of 17 of Mexico's 32 states, but the governing party is believed to have the necessary support.

The plan has received fierce criticism from within and outside the country.

López Obrador — a populist long averse to independent regulatory bodies, who has long ignored courts and attacked judges — claims his plan would crack down on corruption by making it easier to punish judges. Critics say it would handicap the judiciary, stack courts with judges favoring the president's party, allow anyone with a law degree to become a judge and even make it easier for politicians and criminals to influence courts.

It has spooked investors and prompted the U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar to call it a “risk” to democracy and an economic threat.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A judicial worker protests the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Judicial workers, one wearing a "lucha libre" wrestling mask, protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Judicial workers protest the government's proposed judicial reform, which would make judges stand for election, outside the Senate in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)