Minnesota's brief three-game winning streak came to an end on Friday, as the rival Cleveland Indians rolled over Twins pitching en route to a 7-1 victory.
Twins starter Carl Pavano struggled to keep Cleveland hitters off balance and was pulled from the game in the fourth inning, but not before giving up a grand slam to Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis that ballooned the Minnesota deficit to 7-0. Pavano's final line of 3.2 innings, nine hits, and seven runs (six earned) moved his season ERA to a 6.00, and raised further questions about both his health and future in the rotation.
The lone Minnesota run of the evening came on a Brian Dozier single that plated Josh Willingham in the seventh inning, but the Twins were unable to do further damage in the frame. Out of the Twins' six hits as a team, three were recorded by catcher Ryan Doumit, who raised his season average to .271 with the strong performance despite a no-show from most of his teammates.
Aiming to get back on track, the Twins need to hope that 27-year-old righty P.J. Walters can right the ship in game two on Saturday against Cleveland's Josh Tomlin.
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