Twins Vs. Indians Final Score: Minnesota Bested By Cleveland In Series Finale, 6-2

The Minnesota Twins came up short in their bid to pull off a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, as Ron Gardenhire's squad could only muster four hits on the afternoon in a 6-2 loss.

Twins starter Brian Duensing opened the game hoping to lower his 4.39 earned-run average, and was promptly knocked around for four runs in the first two innings before settling down to reel off three straight scoreless frames. Although he left the mound after seven innings where he scattered 11 hits, only four of Duensing's six runs allowed were earned due to an error by infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

Offensively, Gardenhire's team literally had no answer for Cleveland right-hander Justin Masterson, who put forth one of his strongest outings of the season with a seven strikeouts and only three hits allowed over seven innings. The lone bright spot against Masterson came from arguably the most unlikely source, as infielder Alexi Casilla belted not only his first home run of the season (a two-run shot), but his first homer dating back to June 21st of last season.

Next up, the Twins will enjoy a much-needed rest day on Thursday before returning home Friday for a three-game homestand with the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Twins Vs. Indians: Lineups For Wednesday Afternoon

Minnesota has a shot to move into a tie for third place in the AL Central, so they've kept the offense out for game three of their series against the Cleveland Indians. Whatever they've been doing has worked so far, as they've put up 21 runs in the first two games of the series and will look to do it again against slumping Justin Masterson.

Here are the lineups for the third game of the Twins vs. Indians series:

August 8 #Indians lineup: Kipnis 2B Cabrera SS Choo RF Santana DH Brantley CF Duncan LF Marson CA Kotchman 1B Lillibridge 3B Masterson P

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) August 8, 2012

#Twins lineup @ Cleveland: Span CF, Revere RF, Mauer 1B, Willingham LF, Morneau DH, Doumit C, Nishioka 2B, Dozier SS, Casilla 3B, Duensing P

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 8, 2012

The game will begin shortly, a rare 12:05 p.m. ET start on a Wednesday.

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Twins Vs. Indians: Minnesota Looks To Close Out Series With Another Win

The Minnesota Twins are looking to keep adding to the heaping pile of misery that the Cleveland Indians have been suffering through recently, and they'll be glad to help as long as it keeps them moving up in the AL Central. The suddenly resurgent Twins have a shot to move into a tie for third place in the AL Central with a win on Wednesday in game three of their series against the Indians while handing Cleveland their franchise record 12th loss in a row.

Offense has been no problem for the Twins so far during the series, as they've put up 21 runs in two games on the poor Indians pitching staff. Wednesday will see Justin Masterson (7-10, 4.78 ERA) of the Tribe try to stop the bleeding while facing off against Brian Duensing (7-10, 4.78 ERA) of the Twins.

In a wide open AL Central this year, getting themselves into third place could perhaps be a good start to a late run for the Twins.

The game will be at Progressive Field at 12:05 p.m. ET.

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Twins Vs. Indians: Cleveland Errors Allow Minnesota To Rally For 7-5 Win

The Minnesota Twins needed a little help but continued their strong play of late by rallying to beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 at Progressive Field.

The Twins won their fifth game in six tries with three runs in the top of the ninth to complete a comeback from an early 5-1 deficit. With one out in the ninth against Cleveland closer Chris Perez, Justin Morneau took advantage of an error by Indians first-baseman Casey Kotchman which allowed Darin Mastroianni to score. The Indians would then score two more unearned runs to give Perez his second straight blown save opportunity.

The Twins started their rally in the seventh inning when a fielding error by Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis allowed two more unearned runs as Minnesota worked their way back into the game with three runs. Cleveland would surrender five unearned runs as they lost their eleventh consecutive game.

Reliever Tyler Robertson (1-0) picked up the win for the Twins after starter Samuel Deduno was knocked out in the fourth inning after giving up four runs along with five hits and five walks.The outing was a step back for Deduno after winning his last three starts.

The two teams complete their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. ET.

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Twins Vs. Indians: Starting Lineups For Tuesday's Game 2

Arguably the most impressive non-contending team in baseball at the moment, the Minnesota Twins can keep things going in the right direction on Tuesday against the Indians in game two of the series.

Minnesota has put together a stellar 12-12 record since the All-Star break, which has coincided rather nicely with the complete and utter freefall by a onetime first-place Indians squad. Separated by a mere two games in the standings, an occurrence that seemed absolutely implausible back in May, the Twins and Indians look to be crossing paths at the moment but each appear headed in vastly different directions.

Manager Ron Gardenhire has opted to flex his lineup's versatility for Tuesday's game after his team racked up 14 runs on Monday, and will use red-hot designated hitter Ryan Doumit in left field. Doumit belted his second home run in as many games on Monday, and is now up to .290 on the season with an above average .340 on-base percentage.

Here are Tuesday's starting lineups:

Twins
1. Denard Span - CF
2. Ben Revere - RF
3. Joe Mauer - C
4. Josh Willingham - DH
5. Justin Morneau - 1B
6. Ryan Doumit - LF
7. Tsuyoshi Nishioka - 2B
8. Brian Dozier - SS
9. Jamey Carroll - 3B
Samuel Deduno - SP

Indians
1. Jason Kipnis - 2B
2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
3. Shin-Soo Choo - RF
4. Carlos Santana - C
5. Michael Brantley - CF
6. Casey Kotchman - 1B
7. Shelley Duncan - DH
8. Jack Hannahan - 3B
9. Ezequiel Carrera - LF
Corey Kluber - SP

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Twins Vs. Indians: Sam Deduno Tries To Stay Perfect

Minnesota Twins starter Samuel Deduno is giving new meaning to the term "wildly effective."

Deduno, 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA, has a ton of walks and not all that many strikeouts. All the same, he'll try to win his fourth consecutive start Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

Deduno has issued 20 walks in 29.0 innings and has just 19 strikeouts. But he has been nails lately: In his last three starts, Deduno has pitched 19.1 innings and given up just two runs.

Deduno's run coincides with a good stretch for the Twins. They've won seven of their last 10 games and have, at least for the time being, handed the keys to the American League Central cellar to the Kansas City Royals, who are now 2.5 games back of the Twins.

Don't look now, but Minnesota is just two games behind the third-place Indians who, after last night's 14-3 loss, have lost 10 straight.

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Justin Morneau Hits 200th Home Run In Win Over Indians

Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins hit a milestone on Monday night against the Cleveland Indians when he hit his second home run during the 14-3 win, the 200th blast of his career.

Morneau would have loved to have accomplished this feat earlier, but he has been hampered by injuries. He appears to be feeling good lately, though, as Monday was hit fourth multi-hit game in the last five days, via Tyler Mason of Fox Sports North:

"The more at-bats he gets and the more work he's able to do, he's putting better swings on it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Morneau. "I don't think there's any restrictions now. He's feeling pretty good. He's been playing a lot of games. We've talked about days off. We even talked about it today, having a day off, whether it's tomorrow or the next day. What's your bet? I'm betting he's not going to want one now, but we'll see."
...
"It felt great. I think I'm able to appreciate it a little bit more now," Morneau said after the game. "It was something I was probably hoping or thinking I would have reached a while ago, but I think I'm able to appreciate it. I got a little bit emotional, a little excited. I was pretty happy. It was just a good day all around."

Morneau is the seventh Twin and fourth Canadian-born player to hit the mark.

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Twins Vs. Indians Final Score: Minnesota Beats Indians By 11 Runs

The Minnesota Twins earned a comfortable victory over their division rival Cleveland Indians on Monday night, winning 14-3 at Progressive Field. The Twins have won four of five and eight of 11.

The game was essentially decided in the second inning. Minnesota trailed 1-0 after one, then exploded for 10 runs in the second. Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau hit back to back home runs, Ben Revere extended his hit streak to 20 games with an RBI-single, Joe Mauer added an RBI-double and Morneau came back up to add yet another RBI-single off of Cleveland starter Zach McAllister (4-4).

The Indians then pulled McAllister and then Ryan Doumit hit a three-run home run off of Josh Tomlin.

Morneau hit his second home run of the night, a two-run shot, in the sixth, to make it 12-1. Mauer stretched it to 13-1 with an RBI-double in the sixth.

Cleveland's Carlos Santana had a two-run shot in the sixth to make it 13-3, but that was it for the Indians' offense. Denard Span scored on a fielder's choice in the eighth to make it an 11-run win for the Twins.

Minnesota starter Scott Diamond (10-5) pitched seven innings, gave up seven hits and three runs (two earned) and struck out three.

The series continues Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. CT at Comerica Park.

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Twins Vs. Indians Score Update: Minnesota Scores 10 Runs In 2nd Inning

The Minnesota Twins came into tonight's game at Progressive Field looking for their fourth win in five games and their eighth in 11. Early on, it looks like they're well on their way against the Cleveland Indians. Heading into the fourth inning, the Twins are up 10-1.

After falling down 1-0 when Jason Kipnis scored on a Carlos Santana groundout in the first inning, the Twins scored ten (TEN!) runs in the second.

It started with back to back solo home runs by Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau. Then Ryan Doumit scored on a Kipnis throwing error. After that, Ben Revere had an RBI-single, Joe Mauer had a two-run double and Morneau was back up for an RBI-single. That's when the Indians pulled starter Zach McAllister and replaced him with Josh Tomlin.

Tomlin immediately gave up a three-run home run to Doumit and it was 10-1. He retired the side on three groundouts in the third, however.

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Twins Vs. Indians: Projected Starting Lineups For Monday Night

On Monday night, the Minnesota Twins will travel to Progressive Field to open a three-game set against the Cleveland Indians.

While Minnesota has struggled for much of the year, the team will be entering the game as winners of three of their last four and seven of their last ten. With Cleveland currently in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, the Twins could take advantage of a struggling team to climb in the American League's Central Division.

Here are the projected starting lineups for Monday night:

Twins

1. Denard Span, Center Field
2. Ben Revere, Right Field
3. Joe Mauer, Designated Hitter
4. Josh Willingham, Left Field
5. Justin Morneau, First Base
6. Ryan Doumit, Catcher
7. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Second Base
8. Brian Dozier, Short Stop
9. Jamey Carroll, Third Base

Starting Pitcher: Scott Diamond

Indians

1. Jason Kipnis, Second Base
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, Short Stop
3. Shin-Soo Choo, Right Field
4. Carlos Santana, First Base
5. Michael Brantley, Center Field
6. Shelley Duncan, Designated Hitter
7. Jose Lopez, Third Base
8. Lou Marson, Catcher
9. Ezequiel Carrera, Left Field

Starting Pitcher: Zach McAllister

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Twins Vs. Indians: Minnesota Takes On Cleveland In Pivotal AL Central Matchup

The Minnesota Twins will head to Cleveland for three games against the Indians starting on Monday.