Cleveland Guardians vs Minnesota Twins Box Score on Aug 15, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 15, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Cleveland Indians entered their series against Minnesota needing to keep the surging Twins at bay in the American League Central.

Home runs helped Cleveland do just that on Tuesday.

The Indians belted five homers, including two by Carlos Santana and a three-run blast by Austin Jackson, to take the opener of the three-game series at Target Field by an 8-1 final.

The win pushed first-place Cleveland (65-52) six games ahead of the Twins (59-58) in the division.

Santana, Jason Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion all hit solo shots before Jackson's homer broke the game open in the seventh. Jackson's second-deck shot to left field drove in Jay Bruce and Santana, both of whom reached base with two outs.

Santana added a two-run homer in the ninth inning -- the ninth multi-homer game of his career -- to seal the win. The switch hitter socked one home run from each side of the plate Tuesday, the fifth time he has done so in a game during his career.

The five homers were more than enough run support for right-hander Danny Salazar, who allowed just three hits and no walks in seven innings. Salazar (5-5) retired 12 consecutive batters in the middle innings and set down 16 of the final 17 Twins hitters he faced.

Salazar also struck out 10, the second time in three starts he tallied double-digit strikeouts. Dan Otero and Zach McAllister combined to pitch two scoreless innings in relief of Salazar.

Twins veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon was hit with the loss against his former team. Colon surrendered three runs -- all on solo homers -- while allowing seven hits in five innings. He struggled with his command as well, walking four batters. The 44-year-old veteran also was called for a balk for the first time since 2005.

Colon saw his record drop to 2-2 in six outings with Minnesota since the Twins acquired him in July.

Minnesota struck first when Byron Buxton continued his impressive month of August. Buxton singled to left to score Eddie Rosario -- the reigning American League Player of the Week -- to put the Twins up 1-0 in the second inning.

Buxton is 14-for-44 (.318) in August. His eighth RBI of the month meant Buxton has accumulated one-third of his RBIs this season in the past two weeks. He finished the night 1-for-3.

Cleveland answered with three solo home runs. Santana tagged Bartolo Colon, belting his 17th home run of the season in the fourth inning.

Kipnis led off the fifth inning with his ninth of the season, and Encarnacion belted his 27th two batters later. It was the 12th career homer for Encarnacion at Target Field, and the fifth this season.

NOTES: Indians LHP Andrew Miller will pitch Wednesday for Triple-A Columbus as part of a rehab assignment as he recovers from tendinitis in his right patellar tendon. Miller will throw an inning, and he is expected to be activated Friday for Cleveland's series against Kansas City. ... Twins LHP Glen Perkins rejoined the team on Tuesday after pitching on a rehab assignment with Double-A Chattanooga. Perkins has not yet pitched in the majors this season after having offseason shoulder surgery. The 34-year-old veteran appeared in just two games in 2016 before sustaining an injury. Twins manager Paul Molitor said Perkins' fastball hit 88-91 mph during his rehab assignment. Perkins could join Minnesota's bullpen by the end of the month. ... Minnesota OF Eddie Rosario was named the American League Player of the Week for the week ending Aug. 13. He batted .444 with three doubles and four home runs in seven games to earn the honor.