Cleveland 5 at Minnesota 4 - Recap

MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Napoli's mammoth home run to lead off the fifth inning capped off an early see-saw battle and proved to be the difference in the Indians 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Target Field.

The Central Division leading Indians (82-58) dropped eight of their first 12 meetings with the last-place Twins (52-89) but won the last five encounters.

Cleveland maintains its six-game cushion over second-place Detroit, which beat Baltimore 4-1 on Friday. The Twins, owners of the worst record in baseball, have lost 18 of their last 21 games.

Jose Ramirez led the Indians with three hits while Francisco Lindor added a pair and Lonnie Chisenhall chipped in two RBIs.

Joe Mauer and Byron Buxton homered for the Twins.

Neither team's starter lasted beyond the fifth inning but each were factors in the outcome, albeit dubiously.

Twins starting pitcher Tyler Duffy was 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in five career starts against the Indians entering the game but did not fare as well Friday. Duffy pitched five innings, allowing five runs (two earned) and seven hits while striking out six.

Cleveland starter Danny Salazar, who earlier this season spent time on the disabled list for right elbow soreness, was removed after the fourth inning for precautionary reasons with right forearm tightness.

After striking out 21 in 11 innings over his last two starts, Salazar gave up four runs (three earned) and five hits, walked two, struck out four and gave up a pair of home runs.

The most serious late-inning scoring threat came in the sixth, when the Indians loaded the bases for the third time. But Ramirez's hard shot to the hole between first and second was stabbed by a diving Mauer, who retired Ramirez with a flip to reliever Alex Wimmers.

Mauer drove a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for home run No. 11 on the season and a 1-0 Minnesota lead in the first inning.

Minnesota doubled its lead with two out in the second when Buxton's routine grounder to Kipnis rolled under the second baseman's glove. Dozier followed up with a rocket past third base down the left field line and the odd carom off the wall in foul territory handcuffed Abraham Almonte, allowing Buxton plenty of time to score from first base.

The lead didn't last long as the Indians loaded the bases for the second straight inning on another Minnesota error. Duffy hit Jason Kipnis to start the Cleveland third and induced Lindor to hit a bouncer back to the mound.

Duffy's attempt to throw out Kipnis at second hopped into center field and one out later, Ramirez drove a ball off of Duffy's which landed softly between the mound and third base to load them up.

Chisenhall's drive to the gap in left center scored Kipnis and Lindor before Almonte's ground out and Naquin's single plated Ramirez and Chisenhall for a 4-2 Cleveland lead, which held up into the fourth.

Buxton's resurgence since a recent recall from Triple-A Rochester showed no sign of slowing down Friday. With John Ryan Murphy on first with two out in the fourth, Buxton tied the game with his sixth home run of the season, but his fifth to go with 12 RBIs and 12 runs in seven-plus games since rejoining the big club on Sept. 1.

Napoli restored Cleveland's lead to open the fifth, drilling Duffy's first pitch to the upper deck in left field (456 feet) to make it 5-4. In the process, Napoli set a career high with 93 RBIs.

NOTES: The Twins and the Indians teamed up on Friday night in honor of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy whose remains were found late last week nearly 27 years after he was abducted in rural Minnesota. Both teams wore red No. 11 patches on their jerseys in homage to Jacob, who wore a red No. 11 jersey when he played youth sports. Jacob's story gained national attention in the nearly three decades since his disappearance. ... Minnesota reinstated RHP Trevor May and LHP Tommy Milone from the 15-day disabled list. May missed the last 29 games with a lower back strain while Milone sat out 24 games because of left biceps tendinitis. ... 1B Mike Napoli (31) and DH Carlos Santana (30) became the first pair of Indians teammates to hit 30 or more home runs since 2002 when Santana connected for No. 30 in Thursday's victory over the Houston Astros in Cleveland. Jim Thome (52) and Ellis Burks (32) were the last to achieve the feat.