Twins halt eight-game skid with 6-3 win
CLEVELAND -- Ervin Santana pitched six strong innings and Juan Centeno had two hits, including his first major league home run, to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday at Progressive Field.
The Twins snapped their eight-game losing streak with only their third road victory of the season. They came into the game with a 2-16 road record, the worst in the major leagues.
Santana (1-2), who pitched a no-hitter at Progressive Field in 2011 as a member of the Angels, held Cleveland to one run and five hits to pick up his first win in six starts.
Former Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (2-5) pitched into the seventh inning but took the loss.
The game was scoreless through three innings, but the Indians scored a run in the fourth.
With two outs and nobody on base, Mike Napoli doubled to center field. Jose Ramirez hit a soft floater into no-man's land, near the foul line in shallow left field. Nobody could get to it and the ball fell in for a single, scoring Napoli with the first run of the game.
The Twins took the lead with a two-run fifth. Eddie Rosario led off the inning with a single to center field. Centeno then hit an 0-1 pitch into the seats in right field for his first major league home run, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead.
Minnesota scored again in the sixth. With one out, Trevor Plouffe singled and went to second on a single by Byung Ho Park. Brian Dozier was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out.
Rosario grounded into a force at second, but the throw to first in an attempt to complete a potential inning-ending double play was late. Plouffe scored from third to extend the Twins' lead to 3-1.
Minnesota scored again in the seventh and knocked Kluber out of the game. Danny Santana led off with a double and he went to third on a groundout by Joe Mauer. Santana scored on a sacrifice fly by Eduardo Nunez as the Twins' lead grew to 4-1.
Kluber pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Twins starter Ervin Santana pitched six innings, giving up one run and five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Michael Tonkin relieved Santana to start the eighth and gave up Cleveland's other run.
Tyler Naquin led off with a walk and went to second when Jason Kipnis drew a two-out walk. Francisco Lindor singled to center, scoring Naquin, to cut the Twins' lead to 4-2. But with runners at first and third, Tonkin struck out Napoli to end the inning.
Minnesota added two insurance runs in the ninth. Centeno doubled off reliever Kyle Crockett and scored on a single by Santana, who later scored on a single by Miguel Sano.
A solo home run by Yan Gomes off Kevin Jepsen with two outs in the ninth accounted for Cleveland's final run.
NOTES: Indians OF Michael Brantley has been placed on the disabled list because of right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to May 10. To replace him on the roster, the contract of INF Michael Martinez was purchased from Triple-A Columbus. ... Indians C Roberto Perez (right thumb injury) has been transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. ... Twins 1B Byung Ho Park hit two home runs Friday, becoming the fourth South Korean-born player to hit two home runs in a major league game. The others Shin-Soo Choo (nine times), Hee Seop Choi (four times) and Jung Ho Kang (twice). ... The Twins entered the game with a record of 2-14 against their AL Central Division rivals.