Hafner, Indians top Twins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Travis Hafner hit two home runs and the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, leading the Cleveland Indians past the Minnesota Twins 7-5 on Tuesday night.

Franklin Gutierrez led off the inning with a walk from Julio DePaula (0-1). After a sacrifice bunt by Casey Blake and an intentional walk to Grady Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera hit an infield single off the glove of a diving Alexi Casilla to load the bases.

Hafner then hit a ball almost to the warning track in center field for the go-ahead run, and Victor Martinez added a run-scoring ground-rule double to make it 7-5.

Rafael Betancourt (4-0) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win, and Joe Borowski worked a perfect 11th inning for his 40th save in 46 chances.

Hafner hit a two-run shot off Minnesota closer Joe Nathan to tie the game at 5 with two outs in the ninth inning, helping the Indians win for the 10th time in 11 games and increase their lead over Detroit in the AL Central to a season-high seven games.

Six straight

Cleveland has beaten Minnesota six straight times, and is 13-4 against the defending division champions this year. The rapidly fading Twins, 2-7 in their last nine, are now 111⁄2 games back in the division.

Minnesota’s Kevin Slowey, the International League Pitcher of the Year, gave up one earned run and five hits, striking out three in five innings. It was his first start after nearly two months at Triple-A Rochester, where his ERA was 1.93 in his last 10 starts.

There he was asked to work, in part, on more effectively changing speeds, something he struggled to do during a seven-start stint with the Twins from June 1 to July 5.

Four Minnesota relievers limited Cleveland to one run in three innings, before Nathan gave up a pair of runs in the ninth.

Justin Morneau, in a 2-for-16 slump entering the game, hit a three-run double in the third to deep center field off the glove of Sizemore for a 4-2 lead.

It was one of three extra-base hits allowed by rookie Aaron Laffey, who allowed five runs and six hits in four innings, the shortest outing of his five career starts.