Cleveland 7 at Minnesota 1 - Recap

MINNEAPOLIS -- Corey Kluber continued his strong second half run with seven effective innings and Carlos Santana hit a three-run home run to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 7-1 win against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Kluber (16-9) topped 200 strikeouts for the third straight season in striking out 10 Minnesota hitters. Santana's 31st homer of the season went deep into the right-field plaza at Target Field to open the scoring in the second inning off Minnesota rookie starter Jose Berrios (2-6).

Abraham Almonte added three hits and two runs scored for Cleveland, which won for the fourth time in five games and extended its lead in the American League Central to seven games over Detroit.

Berrios' 11th major-league start went much like his first several outings with wildness marking the occasion. Berrios walked four batters and had an error on a pickoff attempt. He gave up five runs -- three earned -- in 2 2/3 innings as Minnesota lost for the sixth time in eight games. The Twins are 13-25 in August and September after posting their lone winning month of the season in July (15-11).

Kluber was in control throughout.

The right-hander gave up four hits and surrendered just one unearned run in the fourth as Byron Buxton singled home Eduardo Escobar, after an error on third baseman Jose Ramirez put runners at second and third with two outs.

Kluber was coming off a four-run loss to the Houston Astros in his last outing. But the former Cy Young Award winner is 7-1 with a 2.14 ERA (18 earned runs in 75 2/3 innings) since the All-Star break. He entered the game with the fifth-lowest ERA in the majors since the All-Star break.

Minnesota's high hopes for Berrios have been met with inconsistency in his short time in the majors. The 2 2/3 innings were his third shortest major-league outing and marked the fifth time he's passed out four walks. He left after striking out Almonte in the third with 65 pitches, just 30 for strikes.

Left-hander Pat Dean relieved Berrios but gave up Tyler Naquin's two-out single. Naquin had two hits and two walks.

Santana extended his career-high for homers in the second inning. Almonte singled and Naquin walked before a sacrifice bunt by Roberto Perez advanced the runners. Michael Martinez popped up a bunt, but Santana followed with a two-out homer that traveled an estimated 431 feet to right.

Almonte scored in the seventh on Perez's triple to deep center which evaded the leaping Buxton. Perez scored on a single by Martinez, who had two hits.

Minnesota committed four errors in the game, including one on Mike Napoli's high pop-up near the pitching mound which was missed by Escobar.

Buxton had two hits for the Twins and is hitting .405 (15-for-37) since being recalled on Sept. 1.

NOTES: Twins 1B Joe Mauer is still dealing with quad soreness, manager Paul Molitor said. Mauer was out of the starting lineup on Sunday and replaced by James Beresford. ... Cleveland recalled 1B Jesus Aguilar and LHP Ryan Merritt from Triple-A Columbus. Aguilar hit .247 with 30 home runs and 92 RBIs in 137 games for Columbus. Merritt was 11-8 with a 3.70 ERA in 24 starts. ... Indians manager Terry Francona announced RHP Josh Tomlin will start Wednesday's game at the Chicago White Sox in place of Danny Salazar, who is dealing with a forearm injury. RHP Mike Clevinger will start Thursday. ... Twins 3B Miguel Sano was out of the starting lineup on Sunday with an .063 average (1-for-16) in his career against Cleveland starter Corey Kluber.