AL CENTRAL Radke, Twins blank Indians

Minnesota took two of three games from the Tribe, again.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- For most of his career, Minnesota's Brad Radke needed ice for both his right arm and ERA after pitching against the Cleveland Indians.
Not this time, though.
Radke pitched eight shutout innings to lead the Twins to a 3-0 win over the Indians on Thursday night.
"I like beating those guys," said Radke, who improved to just 7-15 in his career against Cleveland. But most of those losses came when the Indians' lineup included names like Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and Juan Gonzalez.
Those guys are long gone, but that didn't make Radke's win any less satisfying.
"A lot of people struggled against the Indians' lineups of the past," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Radke is one of the big-game pitchers on our team."
In command
Radke (2-0) allowed four singles, struck out five and walked one to help Minnesota take two of three games in the series. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his first save since 1999 for San Francisco.
Radke wasn't the only Minnesota player feeling good. Doug Mientkiewicz felt lucky, and for the first time all season, so were the Twins.
Mientkiewicz sprained his right ankle in the first inning when he stepped on the foot of Cleveland pitcher Jason Stanford, who was covering first base.
Corey Koskie homered in the eighth inning and Jacque Jones connected in the ninth for the Twins, who were holding their breath when Mientkiewicz went down.
The club has already placed outfielder Torii Hunter and catchers Joe Mauer and Matt LeCroy on the 15-day disabled list with injuries this season.
Gardenhire couldn't bear the thought of losing another key player.
"We probably dodged a bullet there," he said.
Mientkiewicz was hustling down the line and lunged on his final step when he landed on Stanford (0-1), who got his legs crossed up before taking the throw.
"He landed right on my Achilles'," Stanford said. "I got a good gash on my heel."
Softening the blow
Mientkiewicz was wearing rubber cleats. He hated to think about what the outcome would have been if he had metal spikes on.
"That could have been gross for both of us," he said.
As he rolled around on the ground in pain, Mientkiewicz said he feared for himself and his teammates.
"I was probably more scared than I should have been," he said. "Then I thought, 'We don't have enough bodies out here.' Hopefully, I can play tomorrow. I've played through worse."
The Indians' best scoring chance came in the fifth when Victor Martinez reached on an error and Ben Broussard walked. But Radke struck out Alex Escobar and popped up John McDonald before fanning Matt Lawton.
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