Cleveland 5 at Minnesota 2 - Recap

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jose Ramirez had a pair of hits and knocked in two runs and Carlos Carrasco pitched 6 2/3 strong innings to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Target Field.

Ramirez's RBI single to left field got the Indians on the board in the fourth inning and his run-scoring single in the sixth gave Cleveland the lead for good.

Carrasco struggled early, giving up a first-inning run, but retired eight-straight Twins until Brian Dozier's one-out solo homer in the fourth inning. He walked a man and hit another with a pitch but didn't allow another hit after Dozier's blast until a two-out double in the seventh inning ended his night.

The right-hander improved to 6-3 on the season and was charged with two earned runs on four hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings, striking out three. Carrasco improved to 4-2 with a 1.76 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched spanning his last seven starts.

Mike Napoli had three hits, including his 19th home run as Cleveland snapped a brief two-game losing streak.

Indians closer Cody Allen worked the ninth for his 19th save in 21 opportunities.

Minnesota had won seven of nine heading into the All-Star break and led early on Friday. The Twins dropped to 4-3 against the Central Division-leading Indians, the only division opponent they have a winning record against this season.

Dozier hit his 15th homer and knocked in both Minnesota runs.

Ervin Santana (3-8) looked good early but stumbled in the fourth and sixth innings. The right-hander was charged with the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on six hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings pitched.

Santana had allowed two earned runs or fewer in four-straight starts and hadn't suffered a defeat in more than a month (June 14).

Back-to-back one-out singles by Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano in the bottom of the first put the Twins in business early. A wild pitch by Carrasco moved both runners into scoring position and Mauer scored on Dozier's sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 lead.

Cleveland clawed back in the fourth off Santana, getting a leadoff walk from Francisco Lindor to start the inning. Napoli reached on third baseman Miguel Sano's throwing error, which moved both runners into scoring position. Ramirez followed with a line drive single to left that scored a run. Lonnie Chisenhall followed with an RBI ground out that allowed Napoli to scamper in from third, giving the Indians a 2-1 advantage.

Dozier came through again in the bottom of the inning, blasting a solo home run 417 feet down the left-field line tying the game at 2-2.

NOTES: Indians INF Erik Gonzalez was recalled from Triple-A Columbus. Gonzalez hit .296 with six homers and 39 RBIs in 81 games in the minors this season. ... Indians LHP T.J. House was optioned to Columbus. House has a 3.38 ERA in four relief outings with Cleveland this season. ... Indians OF Michael Brantley had his rehab assignment moved from Class A Lake County to Double-A Akron on Friday. Brantley has played in just 11 games this season because of shoulder and biceps injuries and is hitting .231 with seven RBIs and a stolen base. ... Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe is expected to rest his fractured rib another week or two before returning to baseball activities. Plouffe, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 4, could need a rehab assignment before returning to the major league roster. ... Cleveland and Minnesota will play the second of a three-game series on Saturday evening at Target Field. Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (7-3, 3.30 ERA) will take the mound against Twins RHP Tyler Duffey (5-6, 5.20).