Crowe’s RBI single helps Indians beat Twins, 2-1

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Trevor Crowe and the new-look Cleveland Indians made a small stir in the AL Central.

Crowe hit a tie-breaking double in the seventh inning, helping the Indians beat Minnesota 2-1 on Thursday to drop the third-place Twins 41‚Ñ2 games behind first-place Detroit.

“We wanted to win two of three here,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said after losing twice. “We can’t fault anybody but ourselves.”

Crowe’s line drive into the left-center gap off Nick Blackburn (8-6) scored Travis Hafner from second as Cleveland won for the ninth time in 13 games. The switch-hitting Crowe has batted .375 (9-for-24) with six runs and four RBIs in six games since his recall from Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

“It helps a lot mentally to get a big hit,” said Crowe, a first-round pick in 2005. “I know I can play at this level.”

Orlando Cabrera had two hits, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games for Minnesota, which has lost five of six after a four-game winning streak. Cabrera is 10 for 20 since being acquired from Oakland on Friday.

The Twins went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and fell two games under .500.

“We had opportunities,” Gardenhire said. “Simple ground balls to the infield get runs in. It’s disappointing to waste a good pitching performance.”

Gardenhire hopes to gain ground during a three-game weekend series at Detroit.

“They’re all important when you’re chasing,” he said. “It’s in our division and on the road. You don’t want to get too far behind or too far under .500.”

Tony Sipp (2-0) pitched 11‚Ñ3 innings for the win. Joe Smith retired both batters he faced in the eighth, and Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 20 chances.

Cleveland failed to pad its lead in the seventh against Matt Guerrier, who replaced Blackburn with runners on second and third. Wyatt Toregas flied to center, and Denard Span threw out Luis Valbuena at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo had two hits each for Cleveland, which dealt away four veterans just before the trading deadline and bounced back from a 10-1 loss to the Twins on Tuesday.