CLEVELAND (Interstat) — The Cleveland Guardians routed the Minnesota Twins 13-4 on Monday night at Progressive Field, pounding out 19 hits and building a sizable early lead behind a relentless offensive attack. The victory before 22,501 fans in a game that lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes improved the Guardians to 53-48 while the Twins fell to 49-52.

Tanner Bibee earned his fourth win against nine losses, working six innings and allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out five. Joe Ryan took the loss, dropping to 6-6 after being charged with six runs on six hits over 1⅓ innings. Relievers Matt Festa and Shawn Armstrong each pitched a scoreless inning for Cleveland, with Festa allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out three and Armstrong yielding one hit with one strikeout.

Cleveland struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Travis Bazzana singled with one out, then Brayan Rocchio launched a two-run homer to right field, his ninth of the season. Rhys Hoskins followed with a solo homer to left, his 10th, giving the Guardians a 3-0 lead.

Minnesota answered in the top of the second. Royce Lewis walked, and Brooks Lee tripled to center field off the glove of right fielder Chase DeLauter, scoring Lewis. Alan Roden then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, bringing home Lee and cutting the deficit to 3-2.

The Guardians exploded again in the bottom of the second. With two outs, Patrick Bailey singled sharply to center, and Petey Halpin crushed his first home run of the season to right-center, scoring Bailey. Bazzana then homered to right-center for his ninth, and DeLauter followed with a single. The inning ended with Cleveland leading 6-2.

In the bottom of the third, Hoskins hit his second homer of the night and 11th of the season, a solo shot to left, making it 7-2. Halpin added his second home run in the fourth, a solo blast to center for his second of the season, pushing the lead to 8-2.

The Twins managed only a couple of singles off Bibee in the middle innings and did not score again until the seventh. Cleveland continued to add on. In the fifth, Daniel Schneemann singled, moved to second on a flyout and scored on a Bailey single to right, making it 9-2. In the sixth, Steven Kwan walked, Bazzana singled, and DeLauter singled to center, scoring Kwan for a 10-2 advantage.

Minnesota got one back in the seventh. Alan Roden walked, advanced on a groundout, and scored on a single by Trevor Larnach. But the Guardians answered emphatically in the bottom half. Bailey led off with a solo homer to center, his fourth. Halpin doubled, Kyle Manzardo doubled to put runners at second and third, and DeLauter doubled to right, driving in both runners for a 13-3 lead.

The Twins added a final run in the eighth. Josh Bell doubled, and Victor Caratini doubled to right, scoring Bell. But Cleveland’s bullpen held, and the game ended with the Guardians securing a decisive win.

Key offensive performers for Cleveland included Halpin, who went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs; Bailey, 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs; and DeLauter, 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Bazzana finished 3-for-5 with a homer and an RBI, and Rocchio homered and drove in two. For Minnesota, Larnach doubled, Buxton had two singles, and Lee tripled and drove in a run.

The most important sequence occurred in the first two innings. Rocchio’s two-run homer and Hoskins’ solo shot gave Cleveland an immediate lead, and after the Twins briefly pulled within one, the Guardians’ three-run second inning — highlighted by Halpin’s two-run homer and Bazzana’s solo shot — effectively put the game out of reach. Minnesota never recovered from the 6-2 deficit.

The Twins had won two of their previous three games against the Guardians at home earlier in July but have now lost four of their last five overall. Cleveland, after dropping a series to Pittsburgh, improved to 5-3 in its last eight contests.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Minnesota 7, Cleveland 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Cleveland a 58.30 percent probability to win. Minnesota had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 17 runs went under the over-under line of 7.5.