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 The Cleveland Indians' first baseman had four hits, including a
mammoth solo home run in the fifth inning, leading Cleveland to an
8-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at Target Field.
"The kid has got super light tower power," Indians designated hitter
Nick Swisher said. "It's nothing we haven't seen before. When he
gets a ball up in the air to that pull side, there ain't no stopping
that ball."
Santana doubled in the second inning and scored the game's first run
later in the frame. He also doubled again in the ninth to drive in
the final two runs for the Indians, needing only a triple for the
cycle.
Santana's big night gave plenty of support to Cleveland right-hander
Danny Salazar, who allowed one run on six hits and three walks in
five innings. Recalled from Triple-A Columbus before the game,
Salazar improved to 2-4 with the big club this season.
The only real danger Salazar ran into came in the bottom of the
second, when three straight one-out walks loaded the bases. But
Salazar came back to strike out the next two hitters to escape the
jam.
"Besides those walks, he actually threw a lot of strikes," Indians
manager Terry Francona said. "I think that kind of skewed it a
little bit, put him in position for a tough inning. But when he did
run into trouble, I thought he really reached back for his best
stuff."
Swisher had his first three-hit game of the season and first since
Sept. 13. He has four multi-hit games against Minnesota in nine
games this year.
"I don't care about my stats as long as we keep winning," Swisher
said.
Minnesota second baseman Brian Dozier led the Twins' attack, going
3-for-5 with a double and a solo homer, his career-high 19th homer.
He grounded out to third base in his final at-bat, in the bottom of
the ninth.
The Twins went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
"We're not hitting," Dozier said. "One time it's not getting guys on
base to drive in runs, and the next time guys are getting on base
and we can't come through with a two-out hit, myself included. We
left a lot of guys on base. We haven't done a good job of putting
two and two together, and that's the key."
Twins righty Yohan Pino (1-3) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up four
runs on seven hits.
The Indians were on the board first, plating three runs in the top
of the second. The first three batters reached. After catcher Yan
Gomes struck out, right fielder Daniel Murphy singled sharply to
right field, driving in two. Shortstop Mike Aviles followed with a
sacrifice fly to center.
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"You can't win games if you fall behind early," Dozier said. "Not
saying it's been solely just pitching or offense; it's a group
effort. We've been falling behind early but good offensive teams can
find ways to scrap along for nine innings. It seems like, if we get
down early, we're not very good."
After a one-out single in the fourth inning, Twins right fielder
Oswaldo Arcia scored on a fielder's choice to make it 3-1.
Cleveland got the run back in the next half inning on Santana's
massive blast onto the right-field plaza, his 15th homer of the
season, making it 4-1.
Dozier's homer in the seventh made it a two-run game, but the
Indians blew the game open in the ninth on an RBI double by Gomes
and a two-run single by left fielder Chris Dickerson.
NOTES: The Indians recalled Tuesday's starter, RHP Danny Salazar,
earlier in the day from Triple-A Columbus and optioned RHP C.C. Lee
to Columbus to make room for him on the active roster. Salazar
entered Tuesday with a 1-4 record and a 5.53 ERA in eight starts
with the Indians this season. He is now 2-4 with a 5.12 ERA...
Indians SS Asdrubal Cabrera was still suffering from the effects of
lower-back spasms that caused him to be removed from the game
Monday. Cleveland manager Terry Francona classified Cabrera as
day-to-day. ... After the game Monday, the Twins recalled RHP Yohan
Pino from Triple-A Rochester so he could start Tuesday night. The
team optioned Monday's starter, LHP Kris Johnson, back to Rochester.
... Twins 1B Joe Mauer hit off a tee Tuesday, another step in his
recovery from a strained oblique. Mauer has been on the 15-day
disabled list since July 2 and Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan
said there isn't a timetable for his return.
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