INDIANS Tribe's losing streak hits five; Twins win, 5-1

Twins starter Kyle Lohse tamed Cleveland to three hits over seven innings.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Minnesota Twins needed the win because of the standings. Kyle Lohse needed it for his confidence.
Lohse pitched three-hit ball for seven stellar innings, Corey Koskie homered and Minnesota beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 Friday night.
Cleveland, which pulled within a game of the first-place Twins last Saturday, dropped five back in the AL Central following its fifth straight loss. The Twins have won four of five during that span.
Shuts down Tribe
Lohse (6-10) walked one and struck out four against the second-highest scoring team in the majors.
He has struggled for most of the year, particularly against the Indians -- he entered 0-3 with a 10.20 ERA against them this season.
"It's been a crazy year. At times I feel like I'm throwing the ball good, but with bad results," Lohse said.
Lohse made the game's key play in the fifth when he caught Ronnie Belliard off second base on an attempted double steal and tagged him for the second out of the inning.
The right-hander retired his next seven hitters before departing.
"The key with Kyle is just trying to get his confidence back," Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said. "I told him, 'Forget about what happened the first four months of the year.' If he can have a good last month and a half, he'll forget about it."
Lohse was roughed up for seven runs in five innings last Saturday in Cleveland, when the Indians pulled within a game of the Twins.
The next day Koskie's clutch homer gave Minnesota a 10-inning victory to keep them ahead in the standings.
Indians hitting slump
"When we played them at home, we were pretty high," Cleveland's Omar Vizquel said. "Everybody was swinging the bat well. Now we're hitting our lows. We're having trouble getting on base, and we're not hitting the ball real well."
Koskie's homer last Sunday sent him on a tear -- he's 10-for-19 since. He hit a 422-foot shot in the sixth inning that bounced off a railing in the upper deck, putting the Twins up 3-1. It was Koskie's 19th homer of the season.
The Twins added two insurance runs in the seventh when Lew Ford singled, stole second and scored on Justin Morneau's bloop double that bounced off right fielder Jody Gerut's glove. Jose Offerman's single scored Morneau.
Jake Westbrook (11-6) gave up eight hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings, losing for the first time since July 15.
Westbrook wild
Westbrook was uncharacteristically wild in the early innings, walking three and throwing a wild pitch. But he allowed only one run, when Offerman's RBI groundout scored Jacque Jones in the first.
"It was pretty frustrating," Westbrook said. "I made some good pitches, but I was a little erratic in the first."
Ben Broussard tied the score with his 11th homer of the season in the fourth inning. But that was Cleveland's final hit of the game.
Juan Rincon and J.C. Romero each pitched a scoreless inning to finish it.
Minnesota's Torii Hunter, who strained his neck when he slammed into the center-field fence trying to catch a fly ball Thursday, sat out. He was in the dugout in street clothes and the Twins were hopeful he might be able to play Saturday.
Jones' RBI single in the fifth scored Michael Cuddyer to put the Twins ahead to stay. Jones tied his career high by hitting safely in his 11th straight game.
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