Santana gains 20th win in 8-2 rout over Tribe



At Jacobs Field, Minnesota's ace won his 13th consecutive victory.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Johan Santana became the second 20-game winner in the major leagues with his 13th consecutive victory, leading the Minnesota Twins over the Cleveland Indians 8-2 Friday night.
Santana (20-6) set a Minnesota record for strikeouts in a season, though his 33-inning scoreless streak was snapped. He allowed a run -- his first in September -- and two hits in six innings, striking out six to put his AL-leading total at 260.
Bert Blyleven set the previous Twins mark with 258 in 1973.
13-0 since All-Star break
Santana improved to 13-0 with a 1.18 ERA in 14 starts since the All-Star break. He has won 12 starts in a row since allowing only one run in a no-decision July 22 against Tampa Bay.
The left-hander, who entered this season with a 23-12 career record, tied Boston's Curt Schilling for the major league lead in wins. Santana's 13th straight win broke the team mark set by Scott Erickson in 1991 and matched by Brad Radke in 1997.
Minnesota won for the first time in four games since clinching the AL Central title.
Big fourth inning
The Twins built a 6-0 lead by scoring five runs with two outs in the fourth off Kyle Denney (1-2). Henry Blanco, Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones hit consecutive RBI singles, and Lew Ford followed with a two-run double.
Augie Ojeda's aggressive baserunning helped the Twins take a 1-0 lead in the third.
Ojeda hit a leadoff single, then raced all the way from first to third on a groundout to third baseman Casey Blake, beating first baseman Josh Phelps' throw back across the diamond. Ojeda scored on Ford's two-out single to right.
Victor Martinez singled to left to open the Cleveland fourth and scored on a double to right-center field by Phelps.
Santana then struck out Ryan Ludwick and got Ernie Young looking at a third strike before walking Grady Sizemore. Brandon Phillips lined to third to end the inning.
Denney gave up eight hits and six runs over 3 2-3 innings in his third major league game. He walked two and struck out four.
Cristian Guzman had an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Jones hit his 24th homer in the eighth. Blake hit his 26th homer in the bottom half, a 403-foot shot to left with two outs.
Notes
Santana's scoreless streak was three innings shy of the team mark set by reliever J.C. Romero earlier this year. ... Santana is the 15th Twins pitcher to win 20 games and first since Radke in 1997. ... Ford went 3-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Indians 2B Ronnie Belliard missed his third game with flu-like symptoms.
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