Twins go for Win vs Tribe

[Durango53]

GAME: Cleveland Indians (10-15) at Minnesota Twins (15-10).

TIME: Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT.

Travis Hafner and the Cleveland Indians hope to build on a solid night at the plate as they continue a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome.

The Indians entered this series having lost five of six and batting a major league-low .225 with just 91 runs. However, Hafner and Casey Blake each hit homered to help Cleveland beat Minnesota 4-2 on Tuesday.

Hafner hit a two-run shot, homering in his third straight game after not going deep in his first 20 of the season. The Indians' designated hitter had 28 homers and drove in 111 runs last season. He is batting .333 (5-for-15) with six of his 12 RBIs in his last five games.

Blake, who entered the game in a 1-for-25 slump, went 1-for-2 with three walks for the Indians, who had 10 hits - just the fourth time they've had 10 or more hits in a nine-inning game.

"Anything we can get right now is good," said Blake. "We're scratching for runs."

Ronnie Belliard added an RBI double for Cleveland, which still left 13 men on base.

"We need to do a better job with runners in scoring position," Hafner added. "We could've put the game away."

The Twins have lost two straight since a five-game winning streak.

Justin Morneau hit his third home run since being activated from the disabled list on April 22. The first baseman has 10 RBIs while batting .417 (15-for-36) in that span for Minnesota, which played its first game without reliever Juan Rincon.

Rincon is serving a 10-day suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He filed a grievance over his suspension, but for major league players, those bans begin immediately regardless of appeals.

The Twins called up right-hander Scott Baker from Triple-A Rochester to fill Rincon's roster spot. Baker, 23, was 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA in five starts with 20 strikeouts and six walks at Rochester.

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said they have not decided whether to use Baker in relief or as a spot starter.

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The Twins and Indians return Wednesday for Game 2 of their three-game series at the Metrodome.

Carlos Silva will pitch for Minnesota against Cleveland's Kevin Millwood.

In his previous start Friday, Silva did not have his best sinker but battled for a victory in a 7-4 Twins win over the Angels. The right-hander gave up four runs on 11 hits with one intentional walk and four strikeouts. But his final four innings were scoreless.

Millwood pitched into the eighth inning vs. the Twins on April 16 at Jacobs Field, but lost a 6-4 decision after giving up six runs and nine hits, including a pair of homers.

Minnesota is coming off back-to-back losses

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STANDINGS: Indians - 4th place, 8½ GB, AL Central. Twins - 2nd place, 3½ GB, AL Central.

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INDIANS PROBABLE STARTER: Kevin Millwood (0-3, 3.90 ERA). The 30-year-old right-hander, who signed as a free agent in January after eight years in the National League, has yet to earn his first AL win, losing three decisions in five starts. He allowed six runs and nine hits in seven innings of a 6-4 defeat to the Twins on April 16, falling to 0-2 with a 6.92 ERA in two career starts against Minnesota.

CLE: RHP Kevin Millwoodhttp://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/119154.jpg
• 0-3, 3.90 ERA in 2005
• 0-1, 7.71 ERA in 2005 vs. MIN


MIN: RHP Carlos Silvahttp://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/400067.jpg
• 2-0, 3.00 ERA in 2005
• 2-1, 6.30 ERA in 2004 vs. CLE

TWINS PROBABLE STARTER: Carlos Silva (2-0, 3.00 ERA). The Venezuelan right-hander struggled Friday, but still won his sixth straight decision dating to last season. He gave up season highs of four runs and 11 hits in a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, and has pitched seven innings in each of his three starts this season. Silva is 2-1 with a 6.30 ERA in four career starts against Cleveland.

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OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Indians - Hafner and Belliard, .296 avg.;Belliard, 5 HRs and 14 RBIs; Coco Crisp, 14 runs; Alex Cora, 3 SBs. Twins - Jacque Jones, .347 avg.; Torii Hunter, 4 HRs, 17 RBIs, 16 runs and 11 SBs.

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SEASON SERIES: Tied, 2-2.

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STREAKS AND NOTES: Indians - CF Grady Sizemore is 6-for-6 with a homer, triple and double in his career against RHP Silva. ... RHP Bob Wickman pitched the ninth Tuesday for his sixth save in eight chances. ... 3B Aaron Boone returned to the lineup Tuesday after a three-day mental and physical break, going 0-for-5 to lower his average to .115. Twins - RHP Rincon will participate in extended spring training at Fort Myers, Fla., before he's eligible to be reinstated May 13. ... INF Michael Cuddyer committed his sixth error at third base Tuesday. ... CF Hunter was caught stealing Tuesday for the first time in 12 attempts this season.

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ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Indians - 7-7 on the road; Twins - 8-4 at home.

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Player to watch
Torii Hunter is 4-for-7 (.571) against Millwood with one home run and three RBIs. The homer came in the eighth inning of the previous meeting at Cleveland.

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Quotable:
"We're never out of it. We're always going to battle all the way to the last out." -- Twins third baseman Michael Cuddyer

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Quick hits
Hunter was caught stealing for the first time Tuesday in 12 attempts this season. ... Shannon Stewart extended his hitting streak to six games. He has hit safely in 21 of 25 games this season. ... Cuddyer had his first three-hit game this season and first since Sept. 16, 2004 vs. the White Sox. ... The Twins are now batting .161 (5-for-31) with the bases loaded this season.

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On television
• MIN: FSN North
• CLE: FSN Ohio

On radio
• MIN: WCCO 830-AM
• CLE: WTAM 1100-AM

[Timberwolf]

Twins play the second-game of a three-game series tonight against the hated Indians. Indians won thanks to an offensive outburst in the first two innings of the game.

Carlos will be on the hill for the Twins tonight. He had a okay outing in his last start. He stunk it up early against the Angels, but got help by the DPs and he was able to do well in the sixth and seventh. He has to do a lot better against another good hitting team in the Indians. It seems Carlos tends to have problems against power-hitting teams like the CWS and the Yankees.

This is a game the Twins need to win here. They can't fall futher behind in the standings and have the Indians and Tigers catch up to us. With CWS likely sweeping KC, Twins gotta hold serve.

Milwood vs. Silva

[Timberwolf]

This was a very dissapointing loss. I get very angry when I see the Twins lose to the White Sox and the Indians This is a game the Twins should have won. They should have scored more than 4 runs when they had the bases loaded twice and the fact they had runners in the corners. The ninth inning really peeved me off. My god the Twins had the bases loaded against Wickman for the second straight night and the Twins did not drove them home. That really galls at me. Yeah the Twins got some big hits and I understand that the Twins can't be perfect, but geez. I really thought the offense would have gotten into a groove last week, but we are back to the same old thing. I am so tired of this crap.

Carlos was alright. He got hit a lot tonight against the Tribe. He got by with the double play like he did in his last start. Indians found a way to tie the game through the HRs.

J.C. gave up the GW HR. What else is new?

Watching Justin hit HRs is something else. He did it again and he hit in his favorite spot.

This loss is devestating and now the Indians are right by the Twins again. Twins have yet to win in May. They gotta get it together soon. They gotta start hitting. If they start hitting, they will win games. If not, well the Twins could be contending for fourth place.

[LesPaul]

It is pretty sickening to see the Twins spoil a bases loaded situation. They are last in the MLB in batting average with the bases loaded, somewhere around .111. Definatly an issue they need to address by just ignoring the fact that the bases are loaded and go up there and get a hit like the 3 guys before them.

[Timberwolf]

Patrick Reusse really went at it with the Twins in the Star-Tribune today. He called them out for lack of executing on offense in the column. He is so right on that. When you are batting .135 with the bases loaded, you ain't winning games at all.