Indians’ late lead slips away

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Minnesota slowed Cleveland’s charge in the AL Central as Jorge Polanco’s two-run double in the seventh inning rallied the Twins for a 5-3 victory on Friday night, ending the Indians’ six-game winning streak in the opener of a showdown series.

The Twins, who led the division by 11 1/2 games last month, took advantage of an error in the seventh by reliever Nick Goody before Polanco delivered his clutch, two-out hit off Oliver Perez (2-2).

Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver homered for surprising Minnesota, which saw its huge lead dwindle to 51/2 but slowed the Indians for at least one night.

Zack Littell (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth, Ryne Harper worked the seventh and left-hander Taylor Rogers got six outs for his 13th save.

Carlos Santana connected for his 20th homer for Cleveland. The Indians trimmed six games off Minnesota’s lead by going a major league-best 21-8 since June 4.

Goody came in to protect a 3-1 lead and got one out in the eighth before he couldn’t cleanly field a slow roller by Miguel Sano.

The right-hander compounded his problems by walking Ehire Adrianza before getting a second out. However, Max Kepler made it 3-2 with an infield RBI single – on a call that was overturned by video replay – before Polanco followed with a drive over rookie center fielder Orlando Mercado’s head, scoring Adrianza and Kepler.

Garver made it 5-3 in the eighth with his 14th homer.

This young Minnesota team seemed to be showing signs of feeling pressure with the three-time defending Central champions nipping at their heels. But the Twins shook off two errors and came back to stun the Indians, who have been riding high and hoped to keep the momentum after hosting the All-Star Game.

Indians starter Mike Clevinger allowed just one run – the homer to Nelson in the first – over five-plus innings and was in line to get the win before Cleveland’s bullpen had a rare meltdown.

Roberto Perez’s two-run single gave the Indians a 3-1 lead in the fourth.

A first-time All-Star at 33, Santana led off with his homer. Santana, who was beaten in the first round of the All-Star Home Run Derby by eventual winner Pete Alonso, has reached base safely in 30 straight games – the majors’ longest current streak.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi (10-4, 3.15 ERA) will come off the IL to start after being sidelined with a finger blister. The All-Star tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts against Cleveland on March 30.

Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (8-6, 3.61 ERA) led the majors with 132 innings pitched and ranked fourth in the AL with 149 strikeouts in the season’s first half.