AMERICAN LEAGUE Bullpen fails first test; Indians squander 4-0 lead to Minnesota

C.C. Sabathia pitched seven solid innings, with nothing to show for it.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- C.C. Sabathia was cruising, and Cleveland was in control.
Then the bullpens came in, and Minnesota wound up winning the season opener.
Shannon Stewart hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 11th inning, giving the Twins a 7-4 comeback victory over the Indians on Monday night.
The Twins lost their top two relievers -- Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins -- to free agency in the off-season. How their revamped bullpen holds up will be an ongoing concern, but its opening performance was outstanding.
"We all did our job and gave us a chance to win," said J.C. Romero, one of five Minnesota relievers who pitched a scoreless inning. "That's what we're here for."
Wasted effort
Travis Hafner hit two of Cleveland's three home runs, and Sabathia pitched seven shutout innings with nothing to show for it.
"We had two guys we're counting on to take care of innings late in the game who didn't get the job done," said manager Eric Wedge, who watched his team get 17 hits but blow a 4-0 eighth-inning lead against the two-time defending AL Central champions.
There were actually three culprits for Cleveland -- Jose Jimenez and Scott Stewart in the eighth and Chad Durbin, the loser, in the 11th.
Matthew LeCroy walked against Durbin with one out, and rookie Joe Mauer singled. With two outs, Shannon Stewart hit a 1-1 pitch to left to end it.
"It's good to help the team out," he said. "Very exciting."
Winner Juan Rincon worked a scoreless 11th after Joe Nathan nearly gave up a run in the 10th. Omar Vizquel doubled into the right-field corner, but Matt Lawton was out at home on a perfect relay throw by second baseman Michael Cuddyer.
Sabathia, a 13-game winner last year for an Indians team that went 68-94, gave up two hits in the first inning -- and none after that. He walked three, struck out nine and watched the bullpen fritter away a victory.
"Nasty," Minnesota's Doug Mientkiewicz said, praising Sabathia. "Best I've ever seen him. If he pitches anywhere close to that this year, you might be looking at the Cy Young winner."
Jimenez started the eighth, got one out and left Scott Stewart with runners on second and third. Cuddyer's pinch-hit single to center drove them in, cutting the lead to 4-2.
After Corey Koskie's double scored Cuddyer, Rafael Betancourt entered and gave up a tying RBI single to Torii Hunter before striking out Jacque Jones and LeCroy.
"Jose just didn't get the job done tonight," Cleveland's Casey Blake said. "It was too bad for C.C. because he pitched his heart out. With our bullpen, that's a safe lead, and next time they'll get it done."
Twins starter Brad Radke, beginning his 10th major league season and pitching on opening day for the eighth time, wasn't sharp. He allowed four runs, two earned, 11 hits and three homers in six innings.
Ben Broussard scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the second. Mauer retrieved it and could've nailed the runner, but the throw to Radke at the plate was wild.
Hafner was batting at the time. Four pitches later, he homered to make it 2-0.
Radke gave up Hafner's second homer in the sixth -- an upper-deck shot that gave Cleveland a 4-0 lead.
Hafner, who had 14 home runs in 291 at-bats last year, hit for the cycle here last Aug. 14 and has a .393 career average (11-for-28) at Minnesota.
Sabathia, meanwhile, was cruising. He was a little wild, as has been his custom, but the 6-foot-7, 290-pound lefty had the Twins baffled all night. He threw 104 pitches.