Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Monday, September 28, 2015, in Cleveland. The Twins scratched across their fourth run on a Brian Dozier sacrifice fly in the fourth.
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When Kluber struck out Eddie Rosario to end the first inning, it gave the Tribe ace an even 500 strikeouts over the past two years combined. Could Milone pitch a Game 163 versus the Angels, who have struggled against left-handed pitching this year? Joe Mauer scored on the play.
Minnesota Twins’ Miguel Sano hits an RBI-double off Cleveland… Minnesota has won five of its last seven games as it looks to reach the postseason for the first time since 2010.
This is the hit that cost Milone his 10 “quality start” of the season.
Kluber falls to 8-16 on the season.
Minnesota Twins’ Aaron Hicks throws his bat after striking out…
Minnesota Twins’ Brian Dozier fields a ball hit by Cleveland…
As positively as tonight’s start impacted the Twins playoff hopes, I wonder if the flexibility of having Milone back won’t be more impactful in the future.
Tommy Milone stepped in for the ailing Phil Hughes and tamed the Indians lineup while keeping the Twins steered toward the AL wild-card holders.
Two Septembers ago with the Oakland A’s, Milone (9-5) had just one hour to prepare for an afternoon start at Texas when Jarrod Parker fell ill.
“It feels good but we’re obviously not finished yet”, said Plouffe, who homered as part of a three-run first inning.
“The games are dwindling and we’re trying to play catch-up, but I think the guys’ focus is good”, Molitor said.
Both teams are in contention for the second wild card in the AL going into the opener of a four-game series Monday night.
After the first inning, Kluber held the Twins to one run on four hits in his last five innings. It will mostly be forgotten after the win, but the Twins had runners on first and second base with no outs when it happened. “Just calmed myself down and tried to just be the same pitcher that I am”.
Milone had been sent to the bullpen after some rocky outings. Santana had six starts in August and pitched only 31.2 innings, averaging out to less than six innings per outing. “We can’t have that, especially in our situation”. Trevor Plouffe would come up next and continue to come up with big hits against the Indians.
Kevin Jepsen worked the ninth for his 14th save.
But like so many times this season, they adjusted and kept winning.
While August was certainly an ugly month for Santana, his season started to turn around on August 30 with a win against the Houston Astros. Plouffe drove a 1-1 pitch into the bleachers.
Lindor accounted for Cleveland’s other run with a homer in the first.
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Lindor’s 11th homer since being called up from the minors on June 12 cut the deficit to 3-1. Lindor would drive home Jason Kipnis on a ground put in the sixth inning after Kipnis tripled to start the inning.
