Indians 6, Twins 5
Yan Gomes hit a two-run homer and Michael Brantley drove in a pair as visiting Cleveland won its seventh straight game to inch closer to a postseason berth.
Zach McAllister scattered six hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings and Bryan Shaw (7-3) picked up the win among six relievers for the Indians, who stayed a game in front of the Texas Rangers for the second wild card spot with three contests remaining.
Alex Presley tripled in a run and Josmil Pinto hit a two-run homer in the ninth as Minnesota made things interesting with four runs off Chris Perez before Joe Smith recorded the final out for his third save. Andrew Albers (2-5) was charged with four runs (three earned) on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Twins fell for the seventh time in eight games.
Albers’ error in the fourth allowed Cleveland’s first run to score and left a man on base for Gomes, who sent an 0-1 sinker off the facing of the second deck to make it a 3-0 lead. Brantley singled in a run in the sixth and Carlos Santana delivered an RBI double in the seventh to push the gap to 5-0.
Minnesota finally got on the board with Ryan Doumit’s RBI single in the seventh but Brantley struck again in the eighth, sending a single to left to plate Gomes for an important insurance run.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brantley, who went 3-for-5, is 12-for-18 in the last four games with seven RBIs. … Indians CF Michael Bourn (right wrist) sat out his second straight game and is day-to-day. … Twins rookie OF Oswaldo Arcia (knee) was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game but still hopes to play over the weekend.