Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana, right, gets a fist bump from catcher Kurt Suzuki after he was pulled in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians, Tuesday, September 22, 2015, in Minneapolis. He gave up two singles to start the eighth, but Glen Perkins got three straight outs.
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It remains to be seen how the Twins treat the closer role the rest of the season, but for now, Perkins is the setup man, as Jepsen has had success closing games.
The Twins will host the Indians tonight at 8:10PM ET and with Danny Salazar set to make the start, Cleveland offers bettors good value. Danny Salazar had retired the first eight Twins on just 23 pitches. As of this typing, the Indians remain 4.5 games back in the race and are now 2.5 games back of the Twins. The Twins won 3-1. “Because of that bad call, it cost me 20 more pitches and three runs”, Santana said. The Indians fell a game below.500 with Tuesday’s 3-1 loss at Target Field. Watching is second base umpire Bruce Dreckman.
Kluber tries to continue his recent dominance of the Twins and help the Cleveland Indians possibly gain some ground in the postseason chase Wednesday night. Lackey (13-9) allowed only a first-inning homer by Jay Bruce during his 16th quality start in 16 outings at Busch Stadium.
Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Santana hits the dirt after he fouled a… “That brings one of our guys out of the game too”. Phil Hughes makes his second start since coming off the disabled list when he opposes the Indians. The 29-year-old Californian has lost three consecutive starts, lasting only three innings in each of the last two. The offense totaled eight hits and walked four times with Aaron Hicks and Brian Dozier both logging a pair of hits while driving in a run and scoring.
The Twins squandered opportunities, but a three-run 3rd inning turned out to be enough for the win. The Indians (74-75) are two slots behind the Twins, with Los Angeles in between.
He went out three days later and struck out 10 Houston Astros over seven shutout innings, and the roll hasn’t stopped yet. Salazar’s record falls to 13-9 on the season.
“He jammed his shoulder and it was hard for him to get extended when he was hitting, so we got him in, got him iced”, Francona said.
The Indians are hoping to have Michael Brantley back after he suffered a right shoulder injury when he attempted a diving catch on Hicks’ triple Tuesday.
Brantley left the game at that point and was replaced in left field by Michael Martinez. Lonnie Chisenhall then struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. Santana scattered five hits and a walk, allowing only an RBI infield single to Jose Ramirez through his seven innings of work.
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CARDINALS 3, REDS 1: In St. Louis, John Lackey pitched seven strong innings and rookie Tommy Pham continued his productive hitting for St. Louis.
