Minnesota 13 at Cleveland 5 - Recap

CLEVELAND -- The Minnesota Twins continued their devastating attack on the Cleveland Indians' pitching staff with a 13-5 victory Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

Minnesota has won the first three games of the four-game series, outscoring the Indians 35-16 and out-hitting Cleveland 48-27.

Twins starter Tyler Duffey (6-8) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings, but that was good enough to get the win.

Trevor Bauer became the third Cleveland starting pitcher in as many days to get taken to the woodshed by the Minnesota hitters. Bauer (7-5) allowed eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits and five walks in just 2 2/3 innings.

Joe Mauer had his second four-hit game of the series, and he added four RBIs. In the series, Mauer is hitting .667 (10-for-15) with five doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBIs.

Eddie Rosario added three hits and three RBIs for Minnesota. Brian Dozier had a triple, a homer, three runs and three RBIs, and Max Kepler contributed two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

The lone bright spots for Cleveland were Mike Napoli and rookie Tyler Naquin. Napoli hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, the fifth consecutive game in which he has homered. He has 27 home runs overall.

Naquin, on the day he was named the American League's Rookie of the Month for July, belted his 13th home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning.

The American League Central Division-leading Indians have picked a bad time to lose three games in a row. The second-place Detroit Tigers have won eight in a row to pull within two games of first place. On July 20, the Indians led the division by 7 1/2 games.

Minnesota is in last place in the AL Central, but the Twins have dominated Cleveland. The Twins are 8-4 vs. the Indians and 6-22 against the other three teams in the division.

Cleveland's frustration bubbled over in Wednesday's game as manager Terry Francona, pitching coach Mickey Callaway and pitcher Corey Kluber, who did not appear in the game, were all ejected in two separate incidents.

The Twins led 8-4 going into the sixth inning, in which each team scored a run, Minnesota on an RBI double by Rosario, and the Indians on Napoli's home run.

Mauer had an RBI triple in the eighth inning, and Dozier added a three-run home run in the ninth.

In the past three games, Indians starting pitchers Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Bauer combined for a 22.68 ERA, as they allowed 21 earned runs and 23 hits in 8 1/3 innings.

The Twins immediately went to work on Bauer, sending eight men to the plate in the first inning. Bauer gave up a single, a double and three walks in the inning. Both of the runs scored on a single by Eddie Rosario.

Minnesota scored again in the second inning, when Danny Santana singled and went to third on an error by first baseman Napoli, who failed to catch a throw from catcher Chris Gimenez on a pickoff attempt. Santana scored on a single by Mauer to make it 3-0.

Cleveland reached Duffey for two runs in the second inning. Jose Ramirez singled, went to third on a single by Lonnie Chisenhall, and scored on a wild pitch. Chisenhall later scored on a two-out single by Abraham Almonte, cutting the Twins lead to 3-2.

The Twins sent nine men to the plate in the third inning, in which Bauer was removed from the game and Francona and Callaway were ejected from the game.

Rosario led off the inning with a single, and he scored on a double by Eduardo Escobar to extend the Twins' lead to 4-2.

Jorge Polanco's sacrifice bunt moved Escobar to third, and Juan Centeno drew a walk. Escobar was thrown out at the plate by shortstop Francisco Lindor on a grounder hit by Santana. Dozier walked, and Mauer lined a double into the gap in left-center field, scoring Centeno and Santana.

Kepler then hit a sinking fly ball that appeared to be caught by a diving right fielder Chisenhall. First base umpire Jim Reynolds, however, ruled it no catch. It was a single, scoring Dozier and Mauer to give Minnesota an 8-2 lead.

The Indians challenged the call, and after a video review the call was upheld. That brought Francona and Callaway both out of the dugout to argue the decision, and both were quickly ejected.

Cleveland cut the Twins lead to 4-2 on Naquin's two-run home run in the fifth inning.

NOTES: Since his recall from Triple-A Rochester on July 2, Twins OF Max Kepler has 33 RBIs. ... LHP Hector Santiago, acquired earlier in the week in a trade with the Angels, will start Thursday's game, in his Minnesota debut. ... The Twins had 19 extra-base hits on Monday and Tuesday, a franchise record for two consecutive games. ... Prior to the game, the Indians optioned RHP Austin Adams to Triple-A Columbus and recalled RHP Shawn Armstrong from Columbus. ... Indians RHP Joe Colon threw a 20-pitch simulated game on Wednesday. Colon has been on the disabled list since July 22 with right shoulder inflammation.