Lee denied 23rd win but Indians rally to sweep Twins

Minnesota failed to gain ground on Chicago in the AL Central race.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cliff Lee was denied his 23rd win and finished with a no-decision against Minnesota — the only AL team to beat him — and the Cleveland Indians completed a three-game sweep with a 6-4 win Wednesday night over the Twins, another gnawing loss for the Central’s second-place team.

Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez hit RBI doubles in the seventh inning off Matt Guerrier as the Indians prevented the Twins from gaining ground on Chicago.

The White Sox lost 5-1 at New York but stayed 21‚Ñ2 games ahead of Minnesota entering the season’s home stretch.

Lee took a 4-2 lead into the seventh and was poised to improve his record to 23-2 — only the second pitcher to own that record in 108 years — when the Twins tied it.

Alexi Casilla reached on third baseman Jamey Carroll’s error and Joe Mauer doubled. With runners at second and third and none out, manager Eric Wedge visited Lee but decided to leave him in. Casilla scored on Justin Morneau’s groundout, and Lee got two strikes on Delmon Young before the outfielder grounded an outside pitch to right to even it at 4-all.

As soon as Wedge came out a second time, Lee yelled in frustration before handing over the ball. He pounded his fist into his glove as he sprinted to the dugout. Although Indians fans tried to bring him out with a curtain call to salute the left-hander’s last start at Progressive Field, Lee sat on the bench rubbing his head and pondering one of the few times he wasn’t able to get the job done.

Shin Soo-Choo’s two-run single in the fifth had given Lee a 4-2 lead. If he had hung on and gotten two more outs to win his 12th straight decision, Lee would have joined Hall of Famer Lefty Grove (1931) as the only pitchers since 1900 to have 23 victories in 25 decisions. Lee, who hasn’t lost since July 6 against Minnesota, gave up three earned runs and 10 hits in 61‚Ñ3 innings.

At least the Indians pulled out the win.

In the seventh, Carroll reached on a fielder’s choice against Jose Mijares (0-1). One out later, Peralta doubled Carroll home and Martinez, whose homer in the 11th on Tuesday gave Cleveland a 12-9 win after blowing an 8-1 lead, pulled his double down the right-field line.

Indians reliever Edward Mujica (2-2) finished the seventh, Rafael Perez worked out of a two-on, two-out mess in the eighth and Jensen Lewis, pitching for the fourth straight day, got three outs for his 10th save.

Morneau had three hits and two RBIs — giving him a league-leading 128 — and rookie Carlos Gomez homered for the Twins, who have lost four straight.

Lee trailed 2-0 in the fourth when the Indians tied it in on homers by Peralta and Travis Hafner, who recently returned to Cleveland after missing three months with a weak right shoulder.

With one out, Peralta hit his 22nd homer — and first since Aug. 21. One out later, Hafner, who was activated from the disabled list on Sept. 9, pulled Baker’s fastball into the seats in right-center, a 430-foot shot for just his fifth homer this season and first in four months.