Indians rout Twins 11-4
MINNEAPOLIS -- Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion each hit two-run homers and Francisco Lindor added a two-run triple as the Cleveland Indians belted the Minnesota Twins 11-4 on Tuesday.
Ramirez, Lindor, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley each had two hits as Cleveland scored in five of the first six innings to support starter Josh Tomlin (1-2). Encarnacion added an RBI groundout for the Indians after entering the game with one homer and two RBIs this season.
Ramirez and Lindor have paced Cleveland's offense as the team waited for its pitching to match last year's run of quality outings. Lindor ran his current hit streak to 12 games. Ramirez is 14-for-24 with seven runs, three homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games.
Phil Hughes (2-1) was out after 3 1/3 innings for Minnesota. He gave up eight hits and six runs (four earned).
Miguel Sano hit his fourth home run for the Twins, a line drive to the opposite field in the eighth. Jason Castro had three hits for Minnesota, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Ramirez signed a five-year contract with Cleveland in March and got off to a .179 average to start the year before going on his tear.
He drove a long fly ball to the warning track in right field in the first, but right fielder Max Kepler dropped the ball allowing a run to score. Ramirez came around to score as well as the Indians put up three runs in the inning.
Ramirez then hit his fourth homer of the season in the third, a two-run shot deep to right that cleared the high wall in Minnesota.
Tomlin made the lead stand up by having his best outing of the young season. The right-hander entered the day with an 18.47 ERA, but recovered from a slow start.
The Twins scored twice in the first when Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer singled to lead off. Kepler's sacrifice fly plated Dozier and Robbie Grossman scored Mauer from first on a double to right.
Tomlin was in trouble in the fourth, but escaped with only one run scored after Byron Buxton tried to bunt with two outs and two runners on. Tomlin gave up three runs on seven hits in his six innings to lower his ERA to 11.68.
Cleveland's offense, which entered the night fifth in the American League in scoring, kept adding on. Carlos Santana had an RBI single in the fourth, Yandy Diaz drove home a run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and Lindor's triple in the sixth scored two runs.
NOTES: Minnesota INF Ehire Adrianza (right oblique strain) played four innings at shortstop in an extended spring training game Monday as he tries to make his way back from the disabled list. Adrianza will also play some second and third base this week. ... Tomlin had his longest outing of the season and it was the seventh time in nine games a Cleveland starter has pitched at least six innings after doing so once through the first turn of the rotation. ... Hughes had his shortest outing since pitching two innings May 4, 2016, against Houston. It is the fifth time in his last nine starts he hasn't made it past the fifth inning. ... Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (0-2, 8.44 ERA) starts Wednesday night in the third contest of the four-game series. LHP Adalberto Mejia (0-1, 4.05) takes the ball for Minnesota.