MINNEAPOLIS — Kody Clemens belted a seventh-inning pitch from Cleveland Guardians starter Slade Cecconi toward the warning track in the right-center gap and he figured he had a sure hit.

Instead, it turned into an inning-ending flyout. Clemens, stunned, put his hands on his helmet and then raised his palms to the sky. As Guardians players jogged off the field, Clemens spiked his helmet to the dirt.

The Twins, facing the hottest team in baseball, were shut out in both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader at Target Field, steamrolled 6-0 in the afternoon and 8-0 in the nightcap against a Guardians team that seemingly can’t be stopped from chugging back into the playoff race.

It was just the second time in team history the Twins were shut out in both games of a nine-inning doubleheader. The last time, coincidentally against Cleveland, came on May 24, 1961, at Metropolitan Stadium, the year the Twins moved to Minnesota. They were also shut out in a doubleheader, a set of seven-inning games, at Oakland on April 20, 2021.

Cleveland has won 10 consecutive games and shaved a 12 1/2-game deficit to Detroit in the American League Central standings to one game in 26 days.

The Twins, meanwhile, were shut out for the 11th and 12th times this year. They produced three hits against Cecconi and reliever Kolby Allard in the first game of the doubleheader, and four hits against lefty starter Logan Allen and reliever Zak Kent in the second game. They’ve lost 15 of their last 19 games, and they haven’t scored a run over 21 consecutive innings.

In the first game, the Twins had only two runners reach second base and one runner reach third. Luke Keaschall opened the second inning with a leadoff double off Cecconi, but the Guardians right-hander retired the next three batters.

In fact, they didn’t have another hit after the second inning until Austin Martin dropped a double into left field with two outs in the ninth. Martin, who reached base in 16 straight games, had two of the team’s three hits.

It was even worse in the nightcap. Royce Lewis hit a two-out double in the seventh inning and he was the only baserunner who touched second base. Allen, facing the Twins for the fifth time in his career, twirled eight scoreless innings.

Both games turned into blowouts. Joe Ryan, who started the first game, gave up three solo homers to his first seven batters. In the first two innings, the Guardians spoiled Ryan’s chance to play spoiler.

“I tried to do some things a little bit differently, and I just missed a couple spots,” said Ryan, who didn’t want to divulge scouting report details with more games left in the series. “Yeah, it’s frustrating, for sure.”

It’s been a rough month for Ryan, who reached a single-season career high in innings pitched (166), an even more important milestone considering he finished last year on the injured list because of a muscle strain in his shoulder.

Ryan holds a 7.33 ERA over his past six starts, giving up 22 earned runs across his last 27 innings. That includes a two-inning start in Kansas City this month when he tried to pitch through an illness, and he hasn’t looked quite like his usual self afterward.

“I wish I could have been a little bit smoother the last couple [starts] and just thrown a couple more innings, too,” Ryan said. “My role is to take some innings off the bullpen there, and I don’t feel like I’ve done a really good job of that lately.”

José Ramírez crushed a splitter for a 388-foot homer in the first inning, his 30th home run of the season. Ramírez, who has 40 stolen bases, completed a 30-30 season for the third time in his career. He joined Howard Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds as the only players with at least three 30-30 seasons in MLB history.

Ryan gave up a leadoff homer to Bo Naylor in the second inning on a first-pitch fastball that reached the second row of seats above the right field wall. Two batters later, George Valera homered on a ball that didn’t even reach the seats. Valera, who lifted a sweeper, watched his ball hit the top of the right-field wall and bounce back onto the field for his first career home run.

After Ryan gave up three homers on his first 20 pitches, he retired eight of his next nine batters.

“I think I got away from strengths that have been successful in the past and tried to do some things,” Ryan said. “They had a good approach to what we were doing.”

The Guardians pulled away in the fifth inning when four consecutive batters reached base. Daniel Schneemann hit a one-out homer, depositing a fastball into the first row of seats in right field. Brayan Rocchio followed with a double, the Guardians’ first hit that wasn’t a homer, and Steven Kwan hit a single.

With runners on the corners, Kwan stole second base and Twins catcher Jhonny Pereda’s throw deflected off shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald’s glove into shallow center field. Rocchio scored from third on the error.

In the nightcap, Bailey Ober was undone by a six-run fifth inning. With two runners on base and one out, Kwan hit a two-run single up the middle. Then four consecutive batters delivered hits with two outs, including a two-run double from Gabriel Arias.

Ober, who gave up eight hits and six runs in five innings, has yielded a 5.32 ERA through 26 starts.

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