By TOM WITHERS – AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) – Miguel Sano hit a two-run home run and Nelson Cruz hit a solo shot to take the injured Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians monday night in the first three-game game. . series between AL Central groups.
He hit a home run in the sixth inning against Aaron Civale (3-3) when the Twins reached the middle of this season out of 60 games at the same spot where they finished in 2019. Minnesota ended Cleveland’s three-year reign at the department’s wisest moment last year.
The Twins, who have several regular players and two pitchers on the disabled list, lead the Indians in two and a half games.
Kenta Maeda (4-0) ceded a first home race in Caesar Hernandez, then dodged it for the next four before handing him over to the Minnesota bullpen.
Carlos Santana’s single RBI with two outs in Trevor May’s seventh reduced the Twins’ lead to 3-2. But the right shook him and pulled batter Franmil Reyes with runners in the corners to top off the threat.
Taylor Rogers worked ninth for his seventh save.
Cleveland returned without director Terry Francona, who underwent surgery for a gastrointestinal illness last week. Francona, 61, has missed 15 of the club’s 29 games.
Sandy Alomar Jr., the team’s first base coach, remains Francona’s interim replacement.
Prior to the game, Alomar amplified the importance of the three-game game.
“Every set of the pandemic is great,” he said.
And the Minnesota bats are gone.
Cruz, who appears to be saving his internal swings from The Central, tied 1-1 in the fourth with his 11th home race.
Since joining the Twins in 2019, Cruz has won 35 home races and 93 races in 79 departmental games. It is the 412th house race of his career, tying him with Alfonso Soriano for 54th place.
In the sixth, Eddie Rosario folded with a retirement from Civale Sano that made the 1-0 above the wall on the right. San has a hit in eight consecutive games.
Maeda used a no-hitter in his last game on August 18 in Milwaukee. This time there would be no flirting with the story, as Hernandez opened the first by hitting the right-hander’s third shot on the wall in the center-right.
It’s Hernandez’s opening moment at the house run in two days, making him the first player in Indian history, since 1901, to make a house run to start back-to-back games.
WHO’S SPINNING?
The Indians have announced a start to the finale of Wednesday’s series. It may only be Mike Clevinger or Zach Plesac, either recently demoted for at least 10 days after breaking the team’s COVID-19 protocols.
“I hope those boys from the plescac and Clevinger stage, ” said Alomar. “We’d love to have one of those guys, if we could, but that’s a resolution the Indians should take.”
COACH’S ROOM
Twins: THE LD Tyler Clippard may be offside for a few days, or end in IL, after taking a hit on the arm during an online workout on Sunday. Manager Rocco Baldelli called the incident “terrifying to him, to everyone who saw him.” Clippard will continue to get remedy before the computer moves the list.
Indians: OF Delino DeShields did not start for the time consecutive party by a left hip détente. Array.. C Sandy Lion activated from the list of the circle of medical emergency relatives.
Following
Shane Bieber (5-0) is arguably baseball’s most productive pitcher right now in 2020. Newly crowned Indians seek to remain undefeated when faced with the left-hander of the Rich Hill Twins, making their career begin the opposite of Cleveland.
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By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Editor
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