Willingham, Minnesota drop Tribe into last place
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Josh Willingham had four hits and four RBIs, Liam Hendriks finally got his first career win and the Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland 6-4 Wednesday night, dropping the Indians into last place in the AL Central.
Willingham belted a tiebreaking two-run homer off Zach McAllister (5-8) in the fifth inning, giving Minnesota a 4-2 lead. He also had three singles.
Hendriks (1-7) pitched six effective innings to get the win in his 18th career start. Glen Perkins worked the ninth for his 14th save.
Minnesota’s Joe Mauer went 1 for 4 with a walk and had an RBI single taken away when the umpires reversed a call.
Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera homered, but left in the seventh with a sore right wrist.
Mauer hit a sinking liner to left with Jamey Carroll on second base in the eighth. Vinny Rottino made a diving catch, but third base umpire Mike Muchlinski gave a safe sign as Carroll scored.
Indians manager Manny Acta argued with Muchlinski, a fill-in ump from the minors. The entire crew huddled for a moment and Muchlinski reversed his call, ending the inning and keeping the score at 6-2.
Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley each singled in runs in the bottom half, but that was it.
Cleveland fell to 11-39 since July 26 and has dropped 11 of its last 13 at home.
Hendriks allowed two runs and two hits. The right-hander, who made four starts in 2011, was the fifth pitcher since 1920 to go winless in his first 17 starts, three shy of the record shared by Bill Caudill of the Chicago Cubs (1979-81) and Mike Mohler of Oakland (1993-97). Cabrera put Cleveland ahead 1-0 with his 15th homer in the first. He later aggravated a wrist injury that caused him to miss four starts last week.