Martinez HR offsets Twins’ rally

CLEVELAND (AP) — Victor Martinez hit a game-winning, three-run homer with one out in the 11th inning and the Cleveland Indians hurt Minnesota’s playoff chances with a 12-9 win over the Twins Tuesday night.

The Twins, who came back from an early seven-run deficit, lost their third straight and fell 21‚Ñ2 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central with 11 games remaining.

Franklin Gutierrez opened the 11th with a line single off Joe Nathan (0-2) and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Francisco. Jhonny Peralta walked and Martinez hit a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for his second homer of the season.

Tom Mastny (2-2) gave up one hit in the 11th and earned the win.

Minnesota will seek to salvage the last of three games in Cleveland tonight. The Twins will send right-hander Scott Baker to the mound on three day’s rest. Baker, who pitched Saturday in Baltimore when his start was moved back a day because of rain, will face Cleveland’s 22-game winner, Cliff Lee.

The Twins scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 9-8 lead. Rafael Betancourt walked four — one intentionally — yielding an RBI double to Justin Morneau and go-ahead sacrifice fly to Delmon Young. Morneau’s hit snapped an 0-for-15 streak.

Grady Sizemore hit his 32nd homer, a shot off the foul pole in right field to tie it at 9 against Eddie Guardado in the bottom half. Sizemore had been 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in his career against the veteran left-hander.

Ryan Garko homered and drove in four runs to help Cleveland to an 8-1 lead.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first on Michael Cuddyer’s RBI single by off Indians starter Zach Jackson.

Garko hit a three-run homer and Asdrubal Cabrera a solo shot in the second off Twins starter Francisco Liriano to put Cleveland ahead 4-1.

Cleveland added four runs in the third, helped by two Twins errors and a wild pitch by Liriano.

Liriano gave up eight runs — four earned — and six hits over 22‚Ñ3 innings in his worst performance since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester. The left-hander had been 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA in eight starts since rejoining the Twins on Aug. 1.

Liriano went 12-3 in 2006 before missing all of 2007 after elbow surgery.

The Twins got five hits and four runs in the fifth to pull within 8-5.