Hunter hurts Indians

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Enraged by the umpire's safe call, Tim Laker got himself thrown out. The Cleveland catcher then tossed his mask, glove, the ball and a stool.
For whatever reason, the Minnesota Twins have been seeing a lot of that lately.
They've also done some catching up.
The Twins slid closer to the top of the AL Central when Torii Hunter scored on a sacrifice fly that barely reached the outfield grass in the seventh inning Wednesday night, lifting Minnesota to a 4-3 win over Cleveland.
Hunter's daring dash helped the Twins move within one-half game of first-place Chicago and Kansas City. The Royals open a four-game series in Minnesota tonight against the defending division champions, who haven't been this close since July 1.
The setting
Hunter's attack on home plate in the seventh came after he and A.J. Pierzynski singled off Brian Anderson (9-10) and Dustan Mohr sacrificed.
With Cleveland's infield playing in, Cristian Guzman hit a popup to the shortstop side of second that was caught on the run by John McDonald. Hunter said he saw the second baseman stumble and broke for the plate.
"I thought I would take a chance," Hunter said.
McDonald seemed to be caught by surprise, and took several steps before getting off his throw, which was high and allowed Hunter to avoid the tag.
Laker didn't think so. After he blocked the plate perfectly with his right leg, he raced back and tagged Hunter despite plate umpire Scott Nelson's call on the close play.
"I thought he was out," Laker said. "Even after watching the replay, I thought he was out. I didn't get him as he went by, but I don't think he touched the plate."
Laker was immediately ejected for arguing, and as he was being escorted back to the dugout, he threw his stuff toward Nelson before grabbing a bat boy's stool and flinging it, too.
It was the second time on Minnesota's trip that an opposing catcher went ballistic -- also on a play involving Hunter. In Kansas City, Royals catcher Mike DiFelice tossed coolers and a trash can on the field.
"That's the second catcher we've gotten launched who throw stuff on the field," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I think he was safe, but I'm biased. It was a heck of a play."
McDonald said Hunter didn't surprise him by tagging up.
"I was only surprised I didn't make a better throw," he said.
The pitching
Brad Radke (9-10) recovered after giving up three runs and four hits in the first to pitch seven innings. J.C. Romero and LaTroy Hawkins got through the eighth and Eddie Guardado worked the ninth for his 28th save.
Ryan Ludwick homered for the Indians.
Anderson has been drawing interest from playoff contenders before the Aug. 31 trading deadline, and the left-hander deserved better than another loss.
He allowed four runs -- one earned -- and five hits in seven innings. Opponents have scored a major league-leading 27 unearned runs against him.
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