Twin-killing: Fausto leads Tribe victory



Carmona snapped a streak of 11 straight lost decisions.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Johan Santana has a new streak at the Metrodome.
Santana lost his second straight home start and Fausto Carmona got a long-awaited win in Cleveland's 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Santana (3-2) was making his first home start since Tampa Bay snapped his remarkable regular-season winning streak on April 13. Santana was 17-0, and the Twins were 24-0, in his previous 24 home starts before he was outdueled by Scott Kazmir in a 4-2 loss.
The two-time Cy Young winner wasn't bad against Cleveland on Tuesday night, giving up four runs on six hits and striking out seven in seven innings. But he didn't get much help from a lethargic offense that was befuddled by Carmona (1-1).
The Dominican right-hander gave up two runs on six hits in 7 2-3 innings to snap a skid of 11 straight lost decisions, giving him his first victory since making his major league debut on April 15, 2006.
Joe Borowski allowed an RBI single to Jason Kubel in the ninth before finishing for his eighth save.
Travis Hafner homered in the first inning for Cleveland, which was coming off a 12-inning victory over the Twins on Monday night.
After giving up an RBI-double to Casey Blake in the seventh that made the score 4-2, Santana hit Hafner in the middle of the back on the first pitch of the next at-bat, prompting a conversation with plate umpire Jim Reynolds.
Strong outing
Things were much less frustrating for Carmona, who breezed through the Twins' lineup.
Coming in, Carmona was closing in on the Indians' club record for consecutive losses. Guy Morton (1914) and Rod Nichols (1989-91) both lost 13 straight decisions.
Carmona looked as though he might end the streak his last time out, when he gave up two runs on six hits in six innings and left with a 5-2 lead over the New York Yankees. But the Bombers scored six runs off Cleveland relievers, including Alex Rodriguez's three-run homer in the ninth.
The Twins didn't show nearly as much fight. They scored two runs in the fourth on an RBI single from Justin Morneau and a sacrifice fly by Torii Hunter to cut Cleveland's lead to 3-2, but Carmona settled down and retired the next nine hitters.
Santana, who hasn't lost back-to-back home starts since June 3, 2004, has historically been a slow starter. It usually takes him about a month or so to sharpen his trademark changeup. He hit two batters Tuesday night and gave up at least one hit in the last four innings he pitched.
He struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up a homer to Hafner that traveled an estimated 431 feet to the deepest part of the Metrodome in right-center field.
Ryan Garko doubled and scored on a sacrifice from Jason Michaels in the Tribe's two-run fourth for a 3-0 lead.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.