Pitching under less than ideal conditions – 50 degrees at first pitch with rain and sleet throughout the day – Kluber was not up to the task as Minnesota evened the series at a game apiece with a 6-3 win.
Advertisement
Minnesota Twins’ Eddie Rosario points to teammate Juan Centeno after scoring on a one-run double …
Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Twins on Saturday in Cleveland.
“Trevor didn’t execute his pitches”, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. The Twins will try to secure their first road series win of the season when they visit the Indians for the rubber match on Sunday.Minnesota is last in the American League Central in runs scored but is having no trouble getting to the Cleveland staff with six runs in each of the first two games of the series. They went ahead 5-4 with a run in the top eighth, but promptly surrendered three runs in the bottom half of that inning to go down 7-5. He pitched seven scoreless innings Sunday for the win.
Rosario grounded into a force out at second, but the throw to first in an attempt to complete a potential inning-ending double play was late. Offensively, Joe Mauer leads Minnesota with 36 hits, Miguel Sano has 15 RBI and Byung Ho Park has nine home runs. Byrd also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth, while Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis homered for Cleveland.
Zach McAllister (2-1) struck out the last two batters of the eighth to get the win.
Byung Ho Park led off the second with a double.
Napoli advanced to third on the play, but with runners at first and third and two outs, Nolasco retired Gomes on a flyout to end the inning.
However, it the cold weather did not deter Duffey or cool off the Twins, who are suddenly hot – at least by their 2016 standards. They are 4-2 against the Indians and 6-24 versus everyone else.
In their previous five games this season, the Twins have a 3-2 record.
With the score tied 4-4, Nunez, the first batter faced by reliever Bryan Shaw in the top of the eighth, hit a 1-1 pitch over the left-field wall to give the Twins a 5-4 lead.
“The balls were cold when the umpire was throwing them into the game”, Duffey said. “It threw me off because the ball was warm in the bullpen because you’re throwing it over and over”.
I know Dozier has the reputation, and I fully believe he’s a better hitter than his current numbers indicate (.222/.305/.376). “I just want to give him a chance to take a deep breath”. Not only did his homer help break a losing streak, it came off the pitcher who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014. The righty struck out three and only allowed four hits, but remained winless against Cleveland in seven career outings. Tyler Duffey gets the nod, and he’s 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 17 strikeouts this season. The rookie infielder, though, wasn’t sure his drive was to clear the fence.
“It feels great to hit the first home run but I was thinking triple when I hit it”, Polanco said with a smile. Give me the home team and fair price.
Nunez hit a one-out single to cut the lead to one, and he stole second. Ramirez, playing left field and hitting fifth, had two hits and is hitting.315 overall and.700 (7-for-10) with two outs and runners in scoring position. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez drove in runs, while Tyler Naquin and Lindor had two hits apiece.
Advertisement
Trevor Bauer (3-1) allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings for Cleveland, which has lost four of six. A lot of our players really grew, showed a lot of improvement.
